[Image: here]
A High Court judge has thrown a legal spanner in the works of a luxury estate trying to carve itself into the Botmaskop slopes above Helshoogte – and the developers are not going to be thrilled.
Judge Melanie Holderness has handed down an urgent interdict, hitting pause on the Fijnbosch Residential Estate – a planned 77-unit high-end cluster in Stellenbosch – after a local citizen group cried foul. The interdict is temporary (for now), pending the outcome of a full court review.
This all kicked off thanks to the Stellenbosch Interest Group (SIG), a determined bunch of locals who aren’t here for bulldozers blazing through fynbos. They brought the application in two parts. Part A (the interdict) is now in effect. Part B (a full-on legal brawl over the environmental approval) is still to come.
Let’s break down the paper trail:
- The land, 30.7 hectares of prime real estate, was bought for R3.135 million back in 2003.
- The then-owner got the green light to build a cute little mountain resort: 10 rooms, 15 chalets, a pool, a gym, and a conference centre. You know, a weekend getaway vibe.
- That never happened.
- By 2012, a new player, Reset Properties, came along and wanted to ditch the boutique resort idea for a residential estate — more cash, less charm.
- They proposed 67 units, brushed it off as a “non-substantive amendment,” and hoped no one would notice. DEADP (the Western Cape’s environmental department) did notice and told them in 2019 that, actually, this was a big enough change to require public participation and a beefier application process.
So far, so proper.
But then, Reset tried again in 2020, this time slipping in a smaller-scale application, skipping the public process, and calling it non-substantive. Incredibly, DEADP did a full 180 and approved it in 2021 without even notifying affected parties.
As Judge Holderness noted (with more than a hint of side-eye), “On 18 February 2021, in what appears to have been an inexplicable reversal of its previous position, the department [DEADP] approved the 2021 EA as a non-substantive Part I application…”
They approved a whole new development plan, turning a chill mountain lodge into a 77-home gated estate, without telling the people who might have something to say about it. SIG only found out in May 2024. Not sketchy at all.
By the time the court got involved, only some roads and a reservoir had been built. No homes yet. But SIG argued that if construction wasn’t stopped now, Botmaskop would bulldoze ahead, turning the project into a “fait accompli” – a done deal that’d be impossible to undo.
“The irreparable harm which SIG contends will ensue if the development is not halted is that Botmaskop will be able to build itself into an impregnable position…”
You know, it’s harder to unbuild a mansion. And if the court waits for Part B before acting, it might be too late.
This whole saga wasn’t just about trees and mountain views. The judge made it clear: this case touches on constitutional rights – the right of communities to be heard, to protect their environment, and to challenge dodgy backroom deals.
Her final word? “Where constitutional rights are in issue, the balance of convenience favours the protection of those rights.”
So for now, Botmaskop’s bulldozers are in time-out – and the developers, along with 31 other respondents, will have to face Part B and explain why nobody thought the public needed to know what was going on up the mountain.
[Source: GroundUp]
