CoJ, Killarney Country Club at loggerheads over R2 a year rental lease
On Thursday, the Johannesburg council voted in favour of a motion that will see the city either sell the land that the club is built on or renegotiate better terms.
The Killarney Country Club. Picture: Facebook/KillarneyCountryClubSA
JOHANNESBURG - Since 1970, the Killarney Country Club (KCC) has been paying R2 a year in rent to the City of Johannesburg despite leasing more than 111 hectares of municipal land.
The club said the terms were mutually beneficial for both entities.
However, on Thursday, the Johannesburg council voted in favour of a motion that will see the city either sell the land that the club is built on or renegotiate better terms.
Located in the leafy suburb of Houghton, the Killarney Country Club has been in existence for 122 years.
In 1970, the Johannesburg municipality expropriated the land it was on, to build the M1 highway.
The city then leased the club a portion of nearby land, at R2 per annum for 50 years.
In 1992, this lease was extended to 2040, under the same terms.
MMC for economic development, Nomoya Mnisi, said outcomes from the public participation process would determine whether the city sells the land or not.
"We now want the tenant to pay the rental that is market-related, so the tenant is refusing to pay us as the city because they are the inheritance of the apartheid."
The Killarney Country Club said it spends a lot of money maintaining the land, which, over the years, has created many investment opportunities in Houghton and surrounding areas.