DESPATCH recreational facility is the place to be for many regional and national sporting events in the town, yet owing to lack of regular maintenance of the fence surrounding the sports grounds, the residents are placed in danger as sections of the wall collapse often.
According to ward 52 councillor Francois Greyling, the fence deteriorates owing to age and other external factors such as rain and wind which cause it to weaken and collapse.
He further said he is aware that it would cost millions to fix the entire fence around the sports ground. Instead he recommended fixing the fence along Botha Street since it experiences the most wind and traffic.
Greyling said a section of the fence collapsed last year and is currently being fixed.
“Sections of the fence collapse every two months and even though they are busy fixing the recent collapsed fence, there is already a section of the wall that is about to collapse,” he said.
Greyling further said the fence needs to be maintained on a regular basis and not just fixed and left to deteriorate over long periods of time.
“The fence causes a danger for the many people that walk and jog along the sports field. In one incident a local resident reported that while he was jogging along Botha Street a wall collapsed behind him and missed him by a few inches,” said Greyling.
The sports facility which hosts many regional and international baseball, cricket, tennis and rugby games is also utilised by local schools for sporting events and the Ernest Swanepoel Hall is used by the community for social events.
DA spokesperson for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Margaret De Andrade, said the municipality’s maintenance budget for the Despatch Recreational Facility should be overseen on a regular bases.
She further said she was happy to see that the pool was being cleaned and that the broken fence was being fixed.
“The Despatch residents deserve a quality sports field. Sports brings a community together and that is how we show that we care about them,” said De Andrade.
Municipal spokesperson, Mthubanzi Mniki said the municipality is not responsible for all the facilities at the Despatch sport field.
He further said the clubhouse is exclusively used by the Despatch Rugby Club who has a lease on the facility and should maintain it.
“The municipality maintains by ensuring that the grass is cut, and emergency repairs are fixed from time to time. A budget will have to be identified in the next three-year capital budget to re-fence the sport field,” said Mniki.
He said Despatch sports field and pool are currently not budgeted for under the 2019/2020 capital budget and proper assessment by a professional team to determine the corrective action will have to be followed.
“Once the corrective measures are determined the directorate will have to follow a budget process in line with the IDP process. The directorate infrastructure programme is informed by city’s budget cycle, as indicated above the facility is not budgeted for in the current three-year budget cycle,” said Mniki.
“In order for the sports field to be rehabilitated, the community needs to participate and include the facility in the IDP ward priorities for council to consider.”
