Legal Battle
What Does The Law Say?
Activists have been fighting the development in the courts since 2021. Heritage Western Cape did not approve the development, and neither did the City of Cape Town’s own Environmental Management Department. That the project was ultimately approved by the City needs careful examination. A Review of the Environmental Authorisation and Rezoning of the site is still pending in the Western Cape High Court.
Western Cape High Court ruled no construction must carry on until a court looks at how approval for the building was given.
The private property developer, Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust (LLPT), has ignored the courts. They have also refused to listen to, or take seriously, indigenous groups objecting to the project. LLPT decided to go ahead with the project even though they knew a legal battle was coming. Amazon had 5 other sites they could have built on instead of this one. LLPT went ahead anyway, because they wanted to make millions in profit.
Legal Attack and Smears
The Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust (LLPT), which owns the site, manipulated the situation by creating a deal with a new group, the First Nations Collective, which publicly supported the development. This move was used to counteract the opposition and discredit the GKKITC, particularly its spokesperson Tauriq Jenkins, through questionable legal tactics and smear campaigns.
After the successful interdict against the building in March 2022, the developer orchestrated a strategy of targeting individual activists and Indigenous leaders. This was revealed by six whistleblowers in 2023, who were privy to this strategy. Tauriq Jenkins held power of attorney in the matter, representing not only the GKKITC, but 22 other Indigenous entities by extension, who have filed sworn affidavits in support of the Review. Jenkins was singled out and targeted with a vicious smear campaign and a matter was brought against him to delegitimise his leadership and standing relating to the Amazon matter.
The legal attack was brought by three erstwhile members of the GKKITC, posing as its legitimate leaders, and managed to hoodwink the courts into believing their story. This resulted in Tauriq Jenkins being labelled as a fraud – a narrative various media outlets ran with in a sensationalist fashion.
Whistleblowers
Whistleblowers Come Forward
Activists have been fighting the development in the courts since 2021. Heritage Western Cape did not approve the development, and neither did the City of Cape Town’s own Environmental Management Department. That the project was ultimately approved by the City needs careful examination. A Review of the Environmental Authorisation and Rezoning of the site is still pending in the Western Cape High Court.
The High Court said no construction must carry on until a court looks at how approval for the building was given. The developer, Liesbeek Leisure Property Trust (LLPT), had ignored the courts. They have also refused to listen to, or take seriously, indigenous groups objecting to the project. LLPT decided to go ahead with the project even though they knew a legal battle was coming. Amazon had 5 other sites they could have built on instead of this one. LLPT went ahead anyway, because they wanted to make millions in pr ofit.
Whistleblowers Come Forward
Subsequent whistleblower revelations have exposed that LLPT and its affiliates for engaging in fraudulent activities to undermine Jenkins and the GKKITC. These tactics included falsifying documents and offering bribes. The whistleblowers alledge that the three former members who had no standing as leaders of the GKKITC, peddling offers of “R2 million and a house” each to support the development and smear Jenkins.
Despite these revelations and ongoing legal disputes, LLPT has continued construction, facing little to no consequences.
Strategic Litigation: Rescission
After the whistleblowers came forward, Jenkins applied for a rescission of the judgement that found him guilty of fraud. The instructing attorney for Jenkins is Raphunga Attorneys and the advocates are Ben Winks, Tongayi Masveka and SC Tembeka Ngcukaitobi.
This matter is in a pleadings stage and a hearing will be set in due course. There are fourteen respondents in the case, including the developer, the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Government, various individuals who orchestrated the fraud and the fraudulent members of the GKKITC.
