Bowled over

A tender for the Zoo Lake Bowling Club in Johannesburg has been won by controversial academic and psychologist Saths Cooper.

By all accounts the tender process has been far from transparent and it is not clear what is to become of the popular venue.

In a show of protest, hundreds of club members and patrons of its restaurant and bar populated the greens yesterday. People have been lining up at the venue in the last few days to sign a petition to save the establishment from an uncertain future.

The people currently running the club were given notice on June 14 to vacate the property within 30 days.

The new tenant is clinical psychologist Sathasivan Cooper, who, as vice-chancellor of the University of Durban-Westville in 2003, was investigated for 11 issues of governance at the university. The investigator's report to the education minister portrays Cooper as "manipulative" and prone to "surrounding himself with acolytes".

Stephen Hardie, the attorney for the Zoo Lake Bowling Club, has undertaken to investigate the tender process.

''The club found out in August 2012 that a tender for the property had been put out only when the greenskeeper, David Mokgomola, discovered people surveying the property," said Hardie.

The lease between the Zoo Lake Bowling Club and the City of Johannesburg had ended, after almost 10 years, in July 2010.

In July 2012, tender advertisements appeared in The Star, Beeld and Citizen newspapers. The existing leaseholders and the ward councillor, Tim Truluck, claim they were not informed of the tender.

When the club did find out the property was out to tender, it submitted its own bid. According to Hardie, this was completely ignored.

Saki Venter of the City of Johannesburg Property Company confirmed that the tender was awarded on April 12 this year to Kenako Consulting, a psychological consultation company, of which Cooper is the executive chairman. This information was revealed to the existing leaseholders only late last week.

In documents to the City of Johannesburg Property Company, Hardie says that the reasons for the tender being awarded to Kenako have not been revealed and he concludes that the decision is grossly unreasonable and unfair.

Cooper, who has not indicated what his plans for the club are, could not be reached for comment.

Efforts to reach the City of Joburg Property Company could failed at the weekend, but Fanie Sardinos, executive manager of property management, has said on Talk Radio 702 that the company wanted everyone who frequents the Zoo Lake club to be taking part in sporting activities, not just visiting a restaurant or pub.

He said the club was zoned for sport and recreation, not for bowling per se, and that it did not have business rights.

''We are asking for serious sports administrators, serious people that want to further the development of our youth and the development of sport and recreation facilities for the community," he said.

Bowling Club chairman John Seheri said that 10% of the club's income was from membership fees and that the rest came from rental paid to the club from the proceeds of the restaurant.

''Without the restaurant and bar, the bowling club could not function," said Seheri.

''The club is part of the bowling league, but is also open to social members."

The rental for the property was set at R499 a year and lease holders required to maintain the property and incur all costs. Seheri said those costs amounted to more than R20000 a month.

The council issued the tender at R10000 a month rent, in line with its plan to reclassify recreational sites and charge them higher rates.

Hardie said whoever took over the club would struggle to maintain the standard of the grounds without the added financial input from the restaurant and bar.

Hardie and Seheri met Cooper on Friday. Also at the meeting were Chris and Janis Moffet, who sublet the restaurant and bar for R17000 a month. The meeting was called by the property company but it did not send a representative.

''It's interesting that they suddenly want to meet," said Hardie. "They know that the tender process is going to come under scrutiny."

For years rumours have been circulating among patrons that the club will be turned into a helipad for the billionaire Gupta family, who own a property a few blocks away, or that it will be developed commercially.

''Outrage," reads the petition signed by patrons. It says the city claims the club is a squat after 80 years on the site.

A large board just inside the premises makes clear the regulars' response: ''We will fight them in the air, on the greens, on the lawn, in the bars and in the hall, we shall never surrender (but they can have the bogs). We shall go on to the end."

HISTORY

HERMANN Eckstein donated Zoo Lake park, where the bowling club is located, to the people of Johannesburg in 1902, on condition that it be open to all races.

In 1932, the club site was zoned as a sports facility and the original members of the club stood as guarantors. The club has existed for 80 years.

In 1976, the Bowls World Cup was staged here and 16 countries participated.

South Africa won the fours, the triples, the pairs and the singles.

The club is a member of the Johannesburg Bowls Association.

It costs R50 a year for students to join the Zoo Lake Bowling Club and R150 a year for anyone else. - Andrea Nagel

HOW THE PATRONS FEEL

• ROSEMARY Clarke - registered nurse and member of the bowling league: ''I love the Zoo Lake Bowling Club. It's a place where I can meet all kinds of professionals who come here to relax after work. We've been coming here for 12 years."
• Johan de Beer - pensioner: ''The car guards and the bar staff also play bowls. Where else do you have this community feeling between all kinds of people?"
• Andile Mbete - brand manager: ''It would be a shame to see the place change. It's a real institution."
• Mike Hofmeyer - engineering student: ''I've come here with my dad since I was 14. It's a place where people of all kinds can interact."
• Peter Tsololi - country club manager: ''I'm sceptical about the new management. We love it as it is."
• Lorna Cooper - uniform manufacturer: ''We love the fact that the club is for all ages, creeds and colours. Gay, straight, girls, boys, everyone respects each other. It's a real microcosm of what South Africa should be like. It's like a heritage site to us."

WHO IS SATHS COOPER?

CLOSE comrade of Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko, Sathasivan ''Saths" Cooper is a celebrated anti-apartheid struggle hero.

He was expelled from the University of Durban-Westville in 1969 for his political beliefs.

He is a graduate of Unisa, Wits and Boston universities. He obtained a PhD in clinical psychology as a Fulbright scholar at Boston University.

He was vice-president of the Natal Indian Congress in 1971.

In 1972, Cooper was elected secretary of the Black People's Convention. He was arrested under the Terrorism Act and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in 1976. He served his term at various prisons, including Robben Island. He was released on December 20 1982.

In 1983 he was elected vice-president of the Azanian People's Organisation.

He was appointed vice-principal of the University of Durban-Westville in 2003 .

He chaired the Road Accident Fund in 2004.

Cooper is president of the International Union of Psychological Science, and a director of Kenako Consulting. - Andrea Nagel