The Randfontein Golf Club has not been operating since April 2020 but hopefully this will change by the end of 2022.

The Herald recently sat down with co-owners of the club, Thaka Seboka, Bizzah Matsobane and Peter Moeketsi to ask them about their plans for the club and the direction in which they were heading.

Also read: Why our golf course isn’t fully operational

Thaka said they were concerned about the anxiety of the people of Randfontein as far as the golf course is concerned.

On the other hand we are also disturbed by the fact that there hasn’t been any visible support from the very people who are concerned about the golf course,” said Thaka.

He added that if they had that partnership right from the beginning, perhaps they wouldn’t be where they were at that point.

Thaka said under those circumstances they had no option but to close the course and consider the best possible route to retain some of it. It became very clear to them that they could not retain the course as it used to be, but they would be able to retain some essential sections of it.

We had to look for partnerships that could help review and reposition the course, so at this point we have potential partners. We are in very deep negotiations in terms of how the course should look, but we seem to agree maybe we’ll be able to retain a part of it.”

They are considering possibilities like reducing it from a 18-hole to a nine-hole course, and introduce other developments. Currently they are looking at the possibility of developing some form of middle to upper-class housing with retail space; or a retirement village.

“We are looking at linking up with the hospital, that’s why we are talking about the frail-care centre to create a one-stop kind of facility where one also can buy things, or grab something to eat in a restaurant. They could play bowls, or golf at the limited course – these are ideas that are still cooking as nothing has really been solidified or finalised,” Thaka added.

He wished to clear the misconceptions and wild allegations about the course being earmarked for low-cost housing, because it’s very far from the truth and has never even been considered.

The way we see the future is it may bring a lot of enthusiasm for the community of Randfontein because we are also thinking of revamping the tennis courts,” said Bizzah.

According to Thaka it’s safe to say that before the end of the year people will be seeing boards going up to say what is going to happen. They have already laid the foundation in terms of partnership and development, and before the end of the year the people will have a glimpse of exactly what’s going to happen.