Written by jonny

VETCHIES BEACH BATTLE: POINT DEVELOPMENTS Feb 2010

The situation at the time of the last newsletter was that the Department of Environmental Affairs had dismissed all the 14 appeals, we believe, without supplying any valid reasons. A Special General Meeting was called for in October to decide on what course to take, and this meeting was well attended with 112 members signing the register and a further 30-40 not being able to sign and stood outside the clubhouse. For the sake of the new members, I’ll mention the options open to us. We could have chosen to call it a day and disappear off the face of the earth. We could have chosen to vacate our premises and operate without a seaside base allowing our members to launch anywhere along the coast.

This would have led to the demise of the club, because we would then be offering nothing to the members, as we can launch wherever we want without having to belong to any club. Furthermore, the Crocker skis would not be able to launch in an unsheltered environment and neither would the not-so-fit and elderly members. We could have chosen to rethink our situation and join the other clubs in the super club and pay the exorbitant fees that will have to be charged. The last option was to use our resources and take the decision to approve the small craft harbour on Review to the High Court. This would no doubt be an extremely costly exercise with us standing to lose every cent we possess. Our legal advice however, was that the authorization of the small craft harbour was so fundamentally flawed, that we had an excellent prospect of success.

Prior to the Special General Meeting, the Save Vetch’s Association (SVA) had been formed, which comprised of 12 of the 14 appellants to the small craft harbour. These included the Wildlife Society of South Africa and various other bodies and individuals from the sailing, surfing, ski boating, subsistence angling and paddle skiing fraternity. More info can be obtained by logging onto www.savevetchs.co.za.  The plan would be that the SVA would raise funds from the public through an aggressive fund raising campaign lessening the financial burden on our club.  I must confess that with so much at stake, for the first time in my tenure as chairman, I was a little nervous addressing you guys at the meeting. This was going to be the moment of truth to decide the future of our club and our sport.

Despite the complexity and seriousness of the situation the decision was unanimous. When asked who was in favour of taking the case to the High Court, every single hand immediately went up. It was an extremely courageous decision to make knowing very well what we are up against and it made front page headlines the next day. But then again, what value does our money have if we cannot go fishing? No matter what we may hear from others and what we may read in the press, the course we have chosen is within our constitutional rights. There is nothing unlawful about it and the developers, DPDC, must also be prepared to let the law take its course. I don’t know whether it was coincidence or deliberate, but while we were preparing for the meeting, the sheriff served our second eviction notice at the club. I do not know whether they thought this would frighten us into submission, but perhaps they have still not realized that the more bully tactics they use, the more resilient and determined we become.

The Save Vetch’s Association served the founding affidavit of the Review Application to the High Court on 1 February 2010. It is an 89 page document supported by hundreds of pages of annexures and appendices. On behalf of the Save Vetch’s Association and the Durban Paddle Ski Club, I’d like to thank our legal team of Senior Advocates Peter Rowan and Doug Shaw (the most senior in the country), junior advocate Andrea Gabriel and attorney, Michael Jackson of Cox Yeats most sincerely for their dedication and commitment to our plight. They have worked round the clock for weeks on end to prepare our case. They are as passionate as we are and all I can say is that I am glad they are on our side and not on the developers’. A big thank you must also go to their support team and admin staff who also worked long and hard hours putting this extremely complicated set of papers together and submitting it on time. Let us also not forget the efforts of the members of the Save Vetch’s Association who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes supporting the legal team and feeding them with all the necessary documents and information.  We believe we have submitted a substantial and perhaps an overwhelming set of arguments as to why this small craft harbour should not have been approved and we can guarantee the developers and the Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs, Mrs. Buyelwa Sonjica (more about this aunty later on) that one long and hard battle lies ahead for them.

Prior to the Review procedure, Peter Rowan, Michael Jackson and I also worked extremely hard on preparing the defence of our eviction application. We must remember that in 2008 the developers sought a declaratory order to evict us resulting in two appearances in the High Court in December 2008 and January 2009. Although DPDC claimed that the issue was ‘very simple’ to rule, as they owned the land and we had “no rights”, it has now been over a year and the judge has still not passed judgment. Not as simple as they thought. The developers have now abandoned this case and are attempting to obtain an eviction order against us in another court in Pietermaritzburg. This basically means that we may be arguing the same case in two different courts at the same time. The earliest this case may be heard is on 28 July 2010.

In the developers’ application papers it was noted they intend building a “super basement” the size of 3 rugby fields incorporating the site on which we currently occupy as well as some of the other clubs. To do this they need to build a continual sea wall 25 metres below the high-water mark stretching from the base of the North Pier to the base of Vetch’s Pier to prevent the super basement from flooding. They made it abundantly clear that this wall cannot be done piecemeal as it will negatively affect the construction process. This would in fact prevent the other clubs that signed the agreement, from launching whilst this sea wall was in place. (Estimated at 2 years) This would also mean that nobody would have any access to the beach for the entire construction period. This issue was communicated to the other clubs who quite rightly raised it with the developers, as this was not mentioned when they signed the agreement close to 2 years ago. The developers have since changed their tune to appease them and now claim that the sea wall can be built piecemeal. This means that the statement in our papers was a complete lie. As they do not have authorization to build below the high-water mark, we have sent them a letter warning of an interdict, should they attempt to do so. We believe that the authorization of the small craft harbour must remain subject to the outcome of the Review process. The developers are also aware that they do not have the necessary authorization to begin construction below the high-water mark and according to a Durban Ski Boat Club notice, DPDC have now applied to parliament for a 99 year lease of the seashore and seabed. Our legal team is investigating this issue, but a process of consultation must take place and parliament cannot willy-nilly approve the lease behind the public’s back. Tony Ferreira, an ex-Commodore of the Durban Ski boat Club has called for another general meeting to be held on 23 February 2010. The main reasons are for members to review the present situation of the Durban Ski Boat Club with the view of the legal procedures involving the Durban Paddle Ski Club and Save Vetch’s Association, and to reconsider certain conditions of the agreement they signed with the developers.

This is the situation which we are in at the moment. We are aware that things could change at the drop of a hat and we should be ready for anything. With the legal stuff now in the hands of the lawyers, the SVA will now concentrate solely on fund raising.  Initially the support from the public was encouraging, but now we have to shift up a gear or two to ensure we can fund this drive. I’d like to thank Kirk Newton of Go Fish magazine for offering us space in all his publications to advertise our battle cry. The first edition achieved great results. We have now got the support of other fishing, sailing and surfing magazines and various websites newspapers and newsletters.  This fight should not be left only to a handful of people, and I encourage all of us to do our duty. Please distribute our battle cry (see last page) and use the power of word of mouth to tell our story and encourage everyone that has an interest in Vetch’s Beach to contribute to our fund. Money can be deposited to Standard Bank in the name of Save Vetch’s Association bank number 251 728 307 Branch code 042526 Gale Place. For foreign donors a Swift Code SBZAZAJJ can be used. The numbers 02 can be added to the branch code should it require an eight digit code. Please guys let us all get involved.

I’d also like to thank Len Jones for donating 2 sets of his books to be raffled off to raise funds for Save Vetch’s. Many thanks Len and Jessica. I know you told me some time ago that you were not only a legendary diver, spear fisherman, angler, world acclaimed sculptor, artist and author, but a philanthropist as well. I don’t know why, but I thought you were just bragging again Len. How wrong I was! If you want to put yourself in line to win a set of 3 personally dedicated and autographed books by Len, please buy a ticket from any committee member. A ticket will cost a measly R10! I would like to encourage all of you to obtain a sheet to sell to your circle of friends as well and really help us raise more funds. Please contact me for a sheet. I know I have said this before, but these books are a sheer joy to read and no diver and angler should be without them. They are masterpieces.

While we are talking of Len, there is something I want to get off my chest. In the last Go Fish publication, Len was interviewed by Kirk who described him as Mr. Len Jones, legendary, gentleman, so knowledgeable and as a celebrity, while I was referred to as a bulldog! I fumed for a few days until I bumped into Jessica who was sitting in the car parked outside The Kingfisher, while Len was addressing his fans or collecting royalties or something. He normally leaves Jess in the car to avoid paying the car guards. I told her how hurt I was by the article, but she just looked at me with those young sparkling eyes and said “but you are a bulldog!” What could I say? Sometimes, you just cannot win.

Another person that has come forward to raise funds for Save Vetch’s Association, is Gordon Spalding, who is planning to paddle across the entire coastline of Natal and the Transkei unaided during March. How’s that for commitment? Many thanks Gordon! We wish you the best of luck, the calmest of seas and good catches during your epic trip and pray for your safe return. Guys please remember fund raising of this magnitude is totally foreign to me and the rest of the SVA. If you have any ideas or experience in such matters, PLEASE let us know.