ROBERT SOBUKWE TOWN NEWS - Almost two years after The Palms, the former municipal swimming pool property in Cradock Street, was acquired by the Cacadu Development Agency (CDA), uncertainty persists about the future of this site and the plans that the agency had initially outlined following its acquisition.
The agency purchased the property from the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality for R1.6m in 2024 after it was publicly advertised for sale.
CDA’s CEO, Dr Eldrid Uithaler, confirmed to Graaff-Reinet Advertiser in February last year that the property had been registered in the agency’s name in August 2024, at which point ownership was formally vested in CDA.
At the time, Uithaler said some prospective investors would be invited to inspect the site and submit proposals.
He explained that the agency had opted for a turnkey approach, in terms of which a single developer would be responsible for the project, from concept and design through to construction and completion.
In return, the developer would be granted a long-term lease over the property, extending for more than 10 years and registered at the Deeds Office.
This type of lease gives the developers some form of collateral to invest their money, because, in a sense, they become co-owners of the property for the lease period.
The agency indicated that this model was intended to attract private investment and unlock the potential of the site through a fully packaged development opportunity.
Following the initial cleaning and securing of the property at the beginning of last year, however, there has been no further visible progress on the site.
Although some illegal occupants were no longer a matter of concern, complaints have increasingly been raised about community members using the site - including the interior of the building - for illegal dumping.
In light of the growing concern about this dumping at the site, as well as the broader uncertainty surrounding its future, Graaff-Reinet Advertiser recently submitted an enquiry to Uithaler.
In response, he explained that the CDA was an entity of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality (SBDM) tasked with the core mandate of developing projects across the district in order to facilitate capital investment and job creation.
In line with this mandate, the CDA had purchased the Palms property with the intention of redeveloping the facility into a multifunctional tourism, leisure, entertainment and wellness centre.
According to Uithaler, the CDA had attracted an investor after a successful tender process that would have allowed capital investment, job creation during and after construction, and associated secondary services to the broader community through a turnkey process.
“This was meant to be a pilot to showcase how government and the private sector could jointly develop facilities that have seen neglect, but act as a potential investment opportunity. If successful, the model could have been used for various such facilities across the district, province and country,” said Uithaler.
“Unfortunately, the SBDM Council resolved to wind down the CDA, and this impacted the operations of the CDA, maintenance of the swimming pool complex, and the potential investment.
The investor withdrew from the process, thus affecting the envisioned redevelopment and its economic potential.”
The facility is expected to be transferred to the SBDM, and its future status is said to be determined by the district council.
The Cacadu Development Agency was dissolved following a resolution by the Sarah Baartman District Municipality Council in May 2025 to close the entity by 30 June 2026, amid concerns about financial mismanagement and operational sustainability.
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