An exclusive social club was evicted from a Camps Bay home after the renters reportedly misrepresented their plans to operate a cannabis smoking room, Cape {town} Etc reports.
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The ‘members-only’ Infusion Social Club had signed a lease deal. They were eventually evicted from a single shop in a section of a commercial building held by Camps Bay Investment Trust (CBIT) following concerns about the type of company.
The eviction occurred after other tenants expressed concerns about the new business operation and threatened to cancel their lease agreements.
According to court documents, these grievances were were raised by ‘a group of concerned residents [who] expressed their dismay that the CBIT was facilitating the sale of cannabis to minor children and stated that they would not support the tenants in the building should this position be allowed to continue.’
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The establishment they had previously worked in was a café where customers could get coffee, freshly squeezed juice or smoothies. It had run into financial difficulties and was unable to continue operating.
There were early attempts to resurrect the firm. The operation was in financial difficulties, so CBIT entered a new lease deal with the owners of the social club.
‘At all material times, the CBIT understood that the social club would be conducting the same business as the café had undertaken previously.’
Following complaints to CBIT, a meeting with a representative of the social club was held, and they admitted to selling cannabis to the public from the premises.
‘(They) also conceded that the food offered in the restaurant would be infused with cannabis products, including ‘tetrahydrocannabinol’, which is a scheduled substance with psychoactive properties. It was undisputed that the social club had failed to mention the cannabis-related trading activities to CBIT,’ the judgement read.
CBIT terminated the lease agreement due to a disagreement over the social club’s trading activity.
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The termination occurred as a result of alleged non-disclosure and the business model not being a ‘symbiotic match’ for the premises.
CBIT maintained track of everyday complaints from renters and residents, including disturbances caused by smoke from cannabis smoking.
Furthermore, the owners of the social club permitted smoking on the premises, in violation of existing subordinate regulation, and had made branding changes to the facilities that included a cannabis leaf without prior consent.
‘CBIT, in turn, entered into the lease agreement on the basis that the respondent’s business was as disclosed in its business plan. I reasoned that CBIT would not have entered into the lease agreement had it known the true nature of the social club’s business, even if the social club subsequently did not conduct some aspects of that business from the premises,’ said Judge Wille.
Also read:
New act passed: Private use of cannabis officially legal in SA
Picture: Matthew Brodeur / Unsplash
