Sports club threatens Johannesburg municipality with legal action over lease delay
· Citizen
The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) is being accused of delaying the construction of an international-grade facility due to the slow rate of its administrative processes.
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Members of a community tennis club in Roodepoort have been waiting over 18 months for the club’s lease to be renewed, all while investors sit patiently in the gallery.
The club has since been told that, despite receiving written confirmation of an almost 10-year commitment by the municipality, the city was now planning to take its lease to tender.
Lease extension wrangling
Engagements between the Weltevreden Park Tennis Club and JPC over the lease renewal began in November 2024, culminating in a February 2025 meeting that resulted in written confirmation of the municipality’s intention to renew the lease.
“The City of Joburg Property Company (SOC) Ltd will commence with the lease extension process in terms of Section 116 (3) of the Municipal Finance Management Act 2003 (MFMA),” the letter from JPC to the club reads.
Other commitments in the letter include a statement that a “report will be submitted to council for approval” and that JPC “will obtain approval from the city’s Executive Adjudications Committee (EAC)”.
A proposed deadline to conclude the lease extension by May 2025 passed, but communications shared with The Citizen show JPC sending a request for comment on the lease renewal to its roads, water, refuse, electricity and other sister entities in July.
Another meeting was held between the parties in August, during which plans to upgrade the facility into an international-grade padel, pickleball, and tennis hub were revealed.
Ward 126 councillor David Brand sent confirmation of support to both the club and JPC, highlighting the project’s community benefit.
“I am pleased to hear of your proposed upgrades and upliftment of the facilities onsite, and believe that this will be welcomed by the area’s residents.
“I would offer my full support to this proposal and wish you every success in this venture,” Brand’s letter reads.
Communication between the parties stalled between September 2025 and May 2026, save for a February 2026 acknowledgement from JPC to check on the progress of the matter.
Brand confirmed to The Citizen last week that it was relayed to him that the lease would go out to tender, describing JPC’s actions as “nefarious”.
JPC denies approvals confirmed
JPC confirmed that the correspondence between them and the tennis club was accurate, but explained that the contents did not constitute confirmation of a renewal.
“The letter indicated that JPC will obtain approval from EAC for a further period of 9 years, eleven months. There is no approval from the adjudication committee.
“The comment from the ward council was obtained as part of the circulation of the property for a lease period of 9 years, eleven months and no approval. Ward councillors do not approve; the approval comes from council,” JPC spokesperson Lucky Sindane told The Citizen.
He added that the report on the renewal was “currently in the city’s committee system en route to council for approval”.
Asked why the lease had not yet been renewed, Sindane explained that JPC were obliged to comply with legislation.
“The lease agreement did not provide for a lease extension. MFMA Section 116 deals with contract amendments and not extensions.
“There was no approval granted in 2025, the letter indicated that the club could continue a month-to-month basis until approval by EAC.
“We are currently in the process of obtaining council approval prior to going to the EAC for award. The property will be out on tender to comply with MFMA, COJ Supply Chain Management for Land, and Asset Transfer Regulation,” Sindane concluded.
Legal battle pending
What upsets the tennis club’s members is that they believe JPC’s stance changed when they were made aware of the lucrative nature of the upgrades to the facility.
“It is orders of magnitude more impressive in terms of the way the investors plan to lay out the facility,” a member told The Citizen.
Members are reluctant to be named publicly, citing what they believe is a recent malicious action by JPC.
In May, the club received a municipal account for over R360 000; the reinstatement of an amount allegedly agreed at the February 2025 meeting was due to an internal billing matter.
The matter of the renewal could be heard by the council by the end of June, and in a legal letter sent to JPC and seen by The Citizen, the club threatens to take legal action should JPC not follow through with the extension.
The club has spent hundreds of thousands of rands on architectural designs and related costs, all in anticipation of a lease renewal they believed had been agreed in principle.
“We are only asking for fairness and for JPC and COJ to adhere to what was signed and agreed upon, as this is what was originally engaged to us in all meetings and communications,” a club member concluded.