City moves to evict Stables tenants

THE Durban Sheriff has served a Notice of Motion on Newmarket Stables giving tenants notice of the municipality's intention to request the court to grant an eviction order against them.

According to Nadine Parker from the Newmarket Stables, in terms of the notice of motion, tenants have the right to oppose the application and they have up until 1 February 2016 to enter in a notice of intention to oppose the application, after which they have 15 days to serve and file an answer affidavit.

Parker said tenants met with their attorneys and advocates on Wednesday after which they will have to draw up their opposing papers, which she said would take some time.

“Once our answering affidavits are in, the municipality will have 15 days to submit their replying affidavit and then the matter must be set down for hearing on the opposed roll. If we are lucky, we will get to court about the middle of next year. Our attorneys and advocates are very confident about our case, and we have had a number of opinions. If we win, the city manager must start again, and this time do it correctly and within the framework of our country's laws, our constitution and the municipal acts and regulations,” said Parker.

She said in the meantime, they would be investigating the possibility of an application which would force the City to assist in keeping riding in the CBD, for the benefit of the children of eThekwini.

“Retaining a diverse range of activities in central Durban trumps any shortsighted decisions. The City needs to really look at the future spatial planning of central Durban. The general public seems to be of the view that medium and long term plans for the city are better served with horse riding and other diverse activities retained centrally. The general view from the majority of people who contact us is that if anything is to be sacrificed it should be a portion of one of the three golf courses and not the only centrally located riding facility of any of SA’s major metros. No other province we know of has such a wonderful asset in their CDB area,” she said.

Parker said the bottom line was that this was about sport, and while she agreed that the province needed a high performance centre, she felt that equestrian sport should be included in that centre.

Martin Meyer, DA ward councillor, said the move by the city to serve notice of motion on the tenants was not unexpected, as it was the next logical step as the tenants had not vacated the premises.

“I am however disappointed that the city has decided to proceed with the matter even before the public participation process is completed. This seems to prove that the City Manager has already made up his mind, and that the whole public participation process is just a farce. I however still encourage residents to make use of the process and send in their support or objections to the proposal,” he said.

Meyer said he had full trust in the courts to get to the bottom of the matter, and reach a just conclusion.

“The City Manager is duty bound to follow correct procedure in all matters, and it is my interpretation that correct procedure was not followed here,” he said.