Ten years ago, wildlife conservationist John Hume agreed to sell a big chunk of Cape Peninsula mountainside to expand the Table Mountain National Park — on condition he could keep a part of it for himself.
A company of which he is a former director is now planning to build a cluster housing development on his portion, prompting concerns about urban creep into the city's protected areas.
Hume is well known in wildlife circles for a successful captive rhino breeding programme, which involved harvesting and selling the rhinos’ horns to protect them from poachers and raise funds for conservation.
At one time there were more rhino on his farm outside Klerksdorp than in the Kruger National Park. But the herd of about 2,000 white rhino was sold two years ago due to the high cost of the programme — about R190,000 a day.
Hume’s efforts earned him many admirers, who say he single-handedly did more to conserve white rhino than any other conservation effort. But his detractors objected to him profiting from the legal sale of rhino horn.
His conservation success contrasts starkly with the storm over his 4,998m² property in Cape Town's Capri area, on which a company called Autumn Storm Investments 175 plans to build a housing estate. Hume was a former director, replaced by Jennifer Clare Hume, now known as Jennifer Clare Wucherpfennig. Rather than conserve the mountain, the company is seeking to profit from it, according to aggrieved neighbours.
The property has been a contested site for years. It was originally part of the Solole wildlife reserve on the slopes of the Roodeberg, overlooking Kommetjie and Noordhoek. Hume, a partner in the venture, acquired the land when Solole went bankrupt in 2003.
Later, he negotiated a deal to sell most of the property at a discount to the then South African National Parks Board. In terms of the deal — facilitated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) — Hume was allowed to recoup some of his investment by retaining a small portion of the land, which was subdivided from the parent property.
The City of Cape Town approved the subdivision on the basis that Hume's portion retain the same single residential zoning as the parent property and — according to documents — that any future development be sensitive to the surrounding environment.
However, Autumn Storm has proposed building a cluster of 15 free-standing homes (alternatively 10) separated by a road. The plan is detailed in a basic assessment report, submitted last year to the provincial government in pursuit of environmental authorisation.
The Sunday Times has established that:
- The developer proposes clearing some indigenous vegetation;
- The site serves as a firebreak in a fire-prone area. If the site is fully developed, a new firebreak would need to be cleared in the adjoining national park;
- Developers are seeking a rezoning from single residential to general residential, despite the site being in the Table Mountain National Park buffer zone;
- About 3,585m² of the property would be residential erven and 450m² open spaces. An internal road network would cover about 963m²; and
- The development site is graded “very high sensitivity for animal species” according to the department of environmental affairs.
The site’s sensitivity appears to have been overlooked by the developer’s basic assessment report. According to this document: “The botanical specialist has confirmed that the impact on botanical biodiversity is minimal. The degraded state of the existing vegetation and absence of significant natural habitats support the proposed development.”
We do not know what other land this developer owns on which he or she has made side deals in the past; if the door is opened, the next onslaught is inevitable.
— Local resident
It further states that “No significant fauna have been identified on the site, as it is heavily degraded and dominated by invasive species” and the impact on local wildlife was therefore expected to be minimal — an assertion strongly rejected by local residents.
The report also states that the development aligns with the City of Cape Town’s densification policy.
A public participation period for the developer’s environmental authorisation application expired last month. A rezoning and subdivision application has yet to be submitted to the City of Cape Town.
Several Capri residents this week described the report as misleading. An official objection — submitted last month by the local residents’ association — states the proposed development is outside the city’s urban edge, which demarcates areas suitable for development.
Further, the development would also contravene the city’s subdistrict plan, which specifically restricts development in areas adjacent to the Table Mountain National Park. “The proposed development is seeking authorisation for the complete reverse — to alienate land for high-density urban dwellings that will be out of character and in contravention of the subdistrict plan,” the objection states.
Several residents in the area said they were concerned about the potential visual impact of the development, as well as that the site juts into the park and could set a precedent for further encroachment.
“We do not know what other land this developer owns on which he or she has made side deals in the past; if the door is opened, the next onslaught is inevitable,” said one. “We also have no guarantee that SANParks will not renege on their agreement and dispose of some of the land in future.”
Resident Ninette Tarlton shared her frustrations in a blog, along with pictures of animals on the development site. “We know that ecological systems are collapsing due to overdevelopment. We so rely on natural spaces for our own health and wellbeing, as do the flora and fauna we share this planet with. Without them, these scenic areas are destroyed,” she said.
SANParks, WWF-SA and the provincial government did not respond to queries.
Wucherpfennig did not respond to queries. Izak du Toit, John Hume’s legal representative, was preparing a response at the time of going to print.
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