David Polovin, chairperson of the Green Point Common Association, and his committee represent probably the wealthiest ratepayers in Cape Town — covering the Atlantic Seaboard suburbs of Green Point, Mouille Point, Seapoint, Fresnay, Bantry Bay, Clifton and Camps Bay.
Polovin and his 10-member volunteer committee took on the City of Cape Town, provincial government and the national government in an attempt to stop them from building a stadium for the 2010 Soccer World Cup on the Green Point Common. Although it looks increasingly unlikely that they will be able to stop construction of this massive stadium, Polovin seems philosophical about losing the war. ‘As long as we win the battle to have a green space— †he told the Mail & Guardian.
Polovin says that, he is not, as many critics suggest, against the residents of the predominately poor, black, soccer-loving township and Cape Flats moving into this mainly white and affluent Atlantic Seaboard area in order to attend soccer games.
‘For us the issue is that we don’t need this big stadium — even low-cost housing on part of the Green Point Common will make more financial and socio-economic sense than building a 68 000-seater stadium,†Polovin said. ‘And most importantly: we don’t want to lose the last remaining piece of open green space in town.â€
Polovin said he became involved in the Green Point Stadium saga after moving down from Johannesburg. ‘A couple of years ago, we moved down to Cape Town and living here is like living in a different country. I met people who were involved in their neighbourhood and I started off by offering my legal services and skills to the rate payers’ association for free.â€
‘When Greenpoint became an option for building this massive stadium, ratepayers called meetings and we all screamed and shouted against the stadium — including me. I said: ‘Not a sod will be turned’ and the next thing we formed the Green Point Common Association and I received personal threats and my life changed.â€
Polovin will not lie down in front of the bulldozers. Although he remains convinced — after a year-and-a-half of fighting the powers that be — that building a new stadium at Green Point makes no environmental or financial sense, he also doesn’t believe in depriving Cape Town of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup games. ‘We’ve asked very senior legal people to advise us on whether it’s worthwhile trying to stop the stadium from being built at this stage. We will make a decision within the next week and if we’re advised that we can’t stop the stadium from being built, I will make the best of the situation by trying to keep at least part of this land as an urban park. I also don’t want the biggest pyrrhic victory in history.â€
Polovin and his committee are adamant that once the Green Point Common is turned into parking lots and sport stadia, the land will be lost forever. ‘There is no other land in Cape Town available. We don’t value our green spaces — at the moment Green Point Common is fenced and vagrants live there and the public can’t use the space optimally because there is no money to develop it. But to cover the biggest part of it with concrete is a terrible idea.â€
Polovin rejects the claim that he represents ‘a small, privileged, white DA constituency who wants to maintain the status quo of the Atlantic Seaboard— We challenged the premier to hold a referendum — this stadium is also not going to benefit the black and coloured people living in shacks by providing them with sustainable employment or houses. The ratepayers will pay for this stadium and the poor are going to be affected directly. I passionately believe that building this stadium on the Green Point Common is simply making a very expensive and wrong decision,†he said.