SANDE DHLAMINI and MANYANE MANYANE
Johannesburg - A black owned company that used to run a Wellness and Fitness Centre at the OR Tambo International Airport is taking on the Airports Company SA (Acsa) in a bid to recoup R21 million worth of investment.
Phela-Live Wellness and Fitness Centre has blamed Acsa for its financial loss after it allegedly locked the premises they were operating. According to the company, in 2016, Acsa unlawfully locked Phela-Live offices saying the centre had failed to meet its monthly rental payments.
The closure resulted in more than R21 million in investment going down the drain, and more than 40 employees losing their jobs. The closure also jeopardised the plans of over 3 000 members to keep fit.
The fitness centre was the brainchild of young black entrepreneurs - Tshepo Mokgoatjana and his partners - and officially opened in 2014. But two years down the line, the doors to the centre were shut and a protracted battle ensued between the two entities.
After Acsa locked the offices, the team approached the North Gauteng High Court on an urgent basis, but their application was dismissed.
In 2019, the South Gauteng High Court ordered Acsa to restore and grant Phela-Live access to its offices. Acsa challenged the judgement at the High Court in May 2022. The matter is yet to be finalised after it was referred to trial.
“After buying machines and everything, Acsa asked how we are going to finance this thing. Because we were doing another project (grass cutting), we were going to use the proceeds to fund the business. They knew it from the beginning,” said Mokgoatjana.
He said following the agreement, Acsa stopped paying them for the work they had done in the grass-cutting project, putting a strain on their financial wellbeing. They were however pressured into paying their monthly rent.
“We were told stories about our payments but on the other side, they would push us to pay rent. Their decisions shocked us because they told us that based on the job we were doing, we would be able to finance the business. They (Acsa) even told us that even if we won’t pay they would know because they are the ones paying us, and that shouldn’t be a problem. We had hope and confidence based on that agreement,” he said.
The centre was the first of its kind in the country. The owners said they spent millions transforming the former International Trading Bureau building - which was vacant and stood within 50 metres of international arrivals - into a state-of-the-art gym and spa.
“That building was abandoned and there was nothing there. The building was used as a dumping ground where they throw old and dilapidated furniture. Then we came and renovated it and made it look beautiful. But after that, our problems began,” Mokgoatjana said.
“We couldn’t make payments because they didn’t pay us for the work we were doing on the other side with another contract,” he said.
Mokgoatjana added that Acsa’s refusal to pay them was a strategy to kick them out of the offices.
“They have suffocated us so that they can flush us out. You can see that they wanted to kick us out because even the court ruled that they must open the gym with immediate effect but they protested.”
ACSA spokesperson Gopolang Peme refuted the version and explained that in July 2013, ACSA concluded a lease agreement with Twelekgotso Trading Enterprise (TTE) for the lease of a Wellness Centre located at OR Tambo International Airport for five years.
He said TTE defaulted on its rental payments, therefore, accumulated arrears of R3 920 395.49 as of January 2016. Peme added that after numerous requests and demands to make payment of the outstanding amount, Acsa cancelled the lease agreement on January 29, 2016.
“Acsa inadvertently locked TTE out of the premises. TTE then brought an urgent application against Acsa which was struck from the roll because of lack of urgency in February 2016. The company was then required to set the Spoliation Application down on the normal court roll for hearing but they, as dominus litis, failed to do so up until August 2019. Acsa restored TTE with the occupation of the premises on August 14 2019 whilst Acsa pursued an eviction application,” Peme stated.
After the court ruled Acsa should have not closed Phela-Live, Acsa responded that TTE was restored with full occupation of the premises and to date, the company has not been paying rent.
“Acsa is not aware of the reasons why TTE is not an operating a gym facility. The lease agreement between Acsa and TTE was further terminated by effluxion of time on June 30 2020. ACSA is now pursuing an eviction application before the Johannesburg High Court,” said Peme.
He maintained Acsa was not indebted to TTE, but rather that the company is indebted to Acsa for the rental arrears accumulated to date.
