A multi-purpose community centre in Tamboville, Uitenhage, which was built five years ago, has to this day not been opened or been of any use to the community.
This is according to Denver Meintjies, chairperson for the ACDP in Uitenhage.
“It is infrastructure that has been built with taxpayer’s money. How can we allow it to be misused like this?” he said.
According to Meintjies, the building on the corner of North Street and 24th Avenue, has many broken windows and it is seen as a white elephant in their community.
“It is fruitless expenditure in an impoverished area. The building has many different uses. We can have sport competitions, it can be used as a centre for women empowerment and different religious sectors can make use of the hall for meetings,” he said.
Meintjies said the community has many issues with gangsterism and the community centre can be utilized in some way to keep children involved in educational or sporting activities.
Ward 50 councillor, Lunga Nondexeza, said the completion of the community centre was brought to a halt with the change in government in 2014.
Nondexeza further said he will be having a meeting with the Department of Human Settlements to discuss its completion.
He said the building is currently about 7% away from being completed and that its completion is seen as a matter of urgency.
Nondexeza, however, said there is no significant damage to the building that he knows of.
