The future of the Good Hope Centre is again in limbo after sale to the Nigerian pastor John Anosike of the Spirit Revelation Ecclesia fell through
The collapse of Pastor John Anosike's R135 million bid for Cape Town's iconic Good Hope Centre has renewed calls for the City to abandon plans to sell the landmark and instead redevelop it into a mixed-use precinct with affordable housing.
Opponents of the sale argue that the City should reconsider the future of the site in light of last week's Constitutional Court judgment, which found that the City and the Western Cape Government had failed in their constitutional obligations to address apartheid's spatial legacy by providing affordable housing in well-located areas.
In a recent interview, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis revealed that the Nigerian pastor and leader of Spirit Revelation Ecclesia had failed to pay the R135 million purchase price after emerging as the highest bidder at the City's property auction. Hill-Lewis said the City was now engaging the second-highest bidder.
The City yesterday said it was considering the outcome of an external due diligence process into the bidding process before proceeding with the sale.
