Chaos broke out in a BCM council meeting when a request was tabled for the council to cancel the lease for the venue of the Berlin November event last week.
The report, written by metro manager Andile Sihlahla, requested the council to rescind its 2014 resolution to lease the land to the Masibambane Race Club, which organises the annual spring horse race and fashion show, for a monthly rental of R160,848.
Instead, Sihlahla wanted council to approve a “short-term lease for any event on the subject of properties, subject to market related lease amount determined by the office of the acting financial officer”.
“To date the lease has never been concluded between BCM and Masibambane Race Club as Masibambane Race Club did not want to pay the monthly rental for the facility as requested by council,” he said..
“It was established that Masibambane Race Club did not have the necessary financial resources to pay BCM the monthly rental for the lease of the subject erven.
“You are removing the long-term to a short-term. As the EFF we don’t support any business operation on that land whether short-term or long-term.
“Secondly, the residents of that place were removed,” Phindiwe Kaba said.
But before she could finish speaking ANC councillors interrupted saying she was out of order as the report did not speak about residents that had been removed from the land.
“I see there are a lot of municipal cars working on that ground busy doing all sorts of stuff and I would like to know on whose authority they are doing this and who is going to pay for it,” DA councillor Annette Rademeyer said.
“We are not opposed to rescinding this resolution.”
Deputy mayor Zoliswa Matana said the ANC caucus agreed that the report should be withdrawn or deferred as critical information was missing.
Matana said a letter from Masibambane Race Club was needed to prove they were releasing the land as they were unable to proceed with the agreement.
The ward councillor for the area, Thozamile Norexe, said BCM was in the process of building houses for the families who had been removed from the area...