Almost 100 left jobless on Freedom Day
In a classic David and Goliath-type battle between the Beachwood Country Club and the wealthy developers of the prime property and iconic green belt has finally played out dramatically in a Durban High Court ruling that has bunkered the historic golf course and recreational centre that has served the community of Durban North for 90 years.
But unlike in the Biblical tale, the David in this legal tug-o-war is renowned businessman and longstanding golfer, Simon Draycott, whose one of many legal shots had failed to take down Goliath, billionaire businessman, Mohamed Mehtar, whose cartel of half-dozen investors and a contractor had purchased the 18-hole golf course and finally won their day in the superior court recently.
To add to the boot of this saga, Draycott was ordered to pay the costs of the court application. The judge ordered the Sheriff of the Court to eject the respondent and others and hand the vacant possession to the applicant. Photographs of this action went viral on social media over the long holiday weekend.
Beachwood was designed into a golf course by golfing maestro, Gary Player, and ironically his nemesis, Sewsunker ‘Papwa’ Sewgolum’s son, Rajen Sewgolum, was a regular player and coach at this golf course that is no more as a heritage site in this seaside town.
This is the current and back story of this saga:
After a series of court appearances that has drained Draycott, mentally and financially, the golfer-entrepreneur was locked out of his golf course and entertainment centre, including a popular nightclub and bar, restaurant and gym when the sheriff of the court attached the golf course and its upgraded buildings, golf shop, furniture and fittings and stock, three years after taking over Beachwood in 2020.
In the judgment between the applicant, Beachwood investments (Pty) Limited, and the respondent, BCC Golf Country Club (Pty) Limited, the following order was made: “The respondents and any persons occupying by, through or under it, is hereby ordered to vacate the immovable property described as Erf 3485, Durban North … in extent of 42 307 hectares and bearing the physical address 9 Beachwood Place, Durban.”
In August 2020, Draycott and his wife, Rebecca Prosser, and a business partner, Richard Andriessen, took over the 42-hectare golf course and had since revived and rejuvenated golf and the complex until a high court judge slammed on the gavel on the long-running legal tussle, in which the Draycotts and a resilient community of environmentalists waged a strong campaign to save one of the city’s fewer green lungs.
Beachwood then owned by the 100-year-old Durban Country Club, was sold to Beachwood Investments for R100-million, partly to put the plug on its declining financial woes, while leasing the golf precinct to the Draycotts.
In turn, Draycott found himself fighting on multiple frontlines – the DCC, Beachwood Investments and the eThekwini Municipality. Since the sale of Beachwood, the investors began pushing on in a full-throttle legal battle to demolish the golf course and construct dozens of two-storey, estate-type plush housing within a secure, gated village on the flight path of the Virginia Airport.
As much as the revamped complex was turned around financially and businesswise, as landlords, the Draycotts faced a bitter barrage of external challenges and the golf course has been fraught with setbacks – including a mysterious fire at the cost of R3.5-million, disconnections of electricity supply and a rates arrears of almost R9-million.
“Our rental started at R1 000 a month and after the developers bought the property, it jumped to R200 000 and then to R400 000. We have experienced heavy rains, fire, floods and the rioting and looting that affected the golf course in the past three years of running Beachwood,” said Draycott.
During this debacle, he said it personally pained him that a negative outcome of the court trial would put 81 staff members and casual labour – mainly previously disadvantaged black men and women – out of jobs and they became part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Freedom Day speech: “Freedom cannot be meaningful when more than 10 million South Africans are out of work.”
Despite having the overwhelming support of the community, almost 1 000 residents petitioned the municipality to review and halt the development, Draycott and his business partners, including entertainment entrepreneur, Nico Sifolas, who ran the pub and nightclub, and a Thai restaurant and Colombo Coffee were the other brands.
Leading ratepayers champion, Angela Wilson, and environmental activists, Ingrid Moolman, Colin Levin of Oceans Alive, Frank Reitz of AMAFA, and dozens of community-based organisations had joined the campaign to save this unique landscape of green lungs, mangrove swamps and bird sanctuary and wildlife where monkeys also ruled the roost as young and old golfers teed-off from the greens across the 18-holes, half-way house and the 13th hole for a refreshing cup of coffee or an ice-cold pint of beer and toasted sandwiches and chips.
But big business had the final shot at the hole and sank Beachwood – ending one brave man’s battle – supported by a groundswell of progressive community and green activists – to preserve the legacy of a generous farmer who donated the large tracts of land to the community in the 1920s.
“We have been in and out of court, winning and losing legal arguments. At the heart of this burning issue is the campaign to save this golf course and the recreational facilities and 100 jobs. The shutdown of the golf course to make way for a posh housing estate for the affluent and wealthy within a safe haven of a gated village will present an enormous strain on the workers, especially during the toughest economic times since the Covid-19 pandemic, social unrest and looting and the recent floods that damaged our greens and fairways at a huge cost to us,” said Draycott.
Angela Wilson of the Friends of Beachwood said one-thousand signatures were signed within a day after the controversial project plans came to light, while Colin Levin, CEO of Oceans Alive Conservation Trust, has stridently questioned why one of the city’s “most beautiful green belts should be destroyed?”.
The contractor, Gavin Strydom, believed to be a shareholder in the multi-billion housing estate enterprise, said only 23% of the land would be used for building the housing project, adding when completed the project would net the municipality R100-million a year in rates:
“This will boost the city’s coffers and undoubtedly the economy of KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.”
For now, business has hit a hole-in-one and Beachwood is bunkered.
