A COURT battle for the landmark Good Hope Centre is looming.
The City has 15 days to file an answering affidavit in response to an urgent interdict by the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) to prevent it from leasing the centre to private film companies.
Last Tuesday the union applied for an interdict at the Western Cape High Court. And last week Friday, the City announced its intention to oppose the application.
The City is expected to file their papers in the next two weeks.
Currently the Good Hope Centre is being hired to Film Afrika, while the City is finalising the lease agreement process. A decision on the final award is expected to be made next month.
For groups and organisations such as the Cape Malay Choir Board, the Good Hope Centre is still an important city asset that can be rented more cheaply than other conference centres or facilities.
But the centre’s availability has been cut off from the public, they said.
In another case involving the centre, lawyers acting on behalf of Sactwu, the Cape Malay Choir Board, the Bo-Kaap Civic Association, and the District Six Working Group, notified the City on March 29 of intention to apply to the court to review and set aside its decision to enter into a long-term lease to film companies.
