Some business people in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, are adamant the Makhado Municipality did not follow due process when it sold a public park three years ago.
The famous Erf 3456 park along the N-1 was put up for sale in 2019, following a lack of maintenance. Seven bidders alleged they were unfairly disqualified as the R3 million piece of land was sold to the lowest bidder.
The municipality was forced to release the bidding documents to bidders following a court order.
One of the business people, Luke Enslin, who tendered for the purchase of the park, accuses the municipality of unfairly disqualifying his bid.
“I was not informed about the allocation of the bid which they were supposed to do so by word of mouth someone got it so I also read in the papers that the person who got it was not the highest bidder, so the park was used for recreation purpose but the municipality just stopped maintaining it.”
The Makhado municipality spokesperson Louis Bobodi has refuted the claims that they did not follow due processes.
“As the municipality, we believed those allegations are baseless and baseless because being the highest bidder is not the one thing we look into there are various factors which include tax implications,” explains Bobodi.
Enslin says he doesn’t have much hope that the sale will be reversed. However, he added that he trusts the court processes.
“Right now I don’t think the decision will be reversed. The land has now changed ownership twice. It is not in my hands. I leave it the hands of the court,” says Enslin.
The bidders claim the land was sold to a businessman who paid R400 000 lower than the asking price. The Makhado Local Municipality has refuted the bidders’ claims as baseless.
While the park was sold to make way for infrastructural development, environmentalists have warned against the abolition of public parks.
“As infrastructure development continues in rapidly growing small towns the environment is destroyed by pollution, breaking of groundwater, high water demand, erosion and cost of infrastructure,” explain environmentalist Trevor Mulaudzi.
Louis Trichardt industrial centres have been growing exponentially over the last years with its pristine ecosystem suffering.
