Quaysyde gets thumbsup from St Francis community

Judging by the number of comments posted in response to the ‘David & Goliath’ news yesterday morning, it seems ludicrous that the court action was ever even considered. Had the seventeen appellants bothered communicate with neighbours and a cross section of the St Francis community they would have realised the groundswell of support for Quaysyde and, as one comment suggests, “If these people have nothing better to do with their money I suggest they invest it in the poorer communities in St Francis – as things stand now they may as well have chucked it in the canal in front of their homes – the result would have been the same”.

Possibly the best comment however and not a comment on St Francis Today but was in the judgement – “It is clear from the terms of this agreement that the second appellant regarded erf 3306 as having been zoned for business purposes. However, in October 2015, when he learned that a restaurant was being built on the property, he took offence to what he stated in the founding affidavit was ‘an unlawful invasion of the appellants’ privacy and right to peaceful and undisturbed

possession of their properties’ likely to disturb the tranquil atmosphere of the ‘peaceful residential character of Marina Village and surrounding residential properties’ – all of which is somewhat rich when one knows that he had known for years the property was zoned for business purposes.”

Another comment supporting this was from Marlene Wepener, “When the new canal system was initially dredged, the Quayside footprint was clearly earmarked as an commercial entity and people purchasing plots and properties in the surrounding area was well aware thereof  so quite frankly I don’t see the issue.”

Even if the appellants case against the restaurant had even the slimmest hope of success, the objection to the B&B was quite frankly preposterous for are not a huge proportion of homes on the canals exactly that, part time B&B’s. Some are even promoted on Air B&B. Maybe in the next court action they, the appellants, can take on all those home owners who rent out the homes over the holidays.

Over the past few years television has gained more and more entry into the courtroom, possibly owing to the huge interest in the Oscar Pretorius trial. Since then the government and political parties have kept our screens busy with regular cases in the Supreme, Appeals and Constitutional court all involving advocates.  Googling these advocates has been an interesting exercise and almost a hobby so it was natural to Google Advocate Christo Stockenström.

It seems from various reports in the Mail  Guardian dating way back to 2007 Advocate Stockenström had some involvement in the controversial arms deal around about the time when Zuma was fired by Mbeki. The M&G article –  “Rot on a Global Scale”  dealing with the shenanigans of the Arms Deal and in particular BAE Systems and Ngwane Defense  had this to say – “Christo Stockenström  – a Pretoria-based lawyer, is a key player at Ngwane, with a history as a fixer in the arms trade.”

In another article, this time on IOL in an article titled “How arms deal man made his millions” the name os Advocate Stockenström again appears although in his defense, he was commenting on behalf of a client.  In a further article, this time in City Press Stockenström is named as CEO to Uri Vehicle Manufacturing, a company involved, according to the article, in the arms deal.

Seems dealing in death and destruction is okay as long as you don’t make a noise having fun.

References:

https://mg.co.za/article/2010-03-19-axe-falls-on-arms-probe

https://mg.co.za/article/2010-12-03-the-house-arms-deal-bought

https://www.news24.com/Archives/City-Press/Exclusive-Tracking-down-arms-deal-jobs-20150429