IT will not be game, set and match in favour of the criminals who daily target the Drostdy Tennis Club, as members will stick to their battle to save Kariega’s last and only tennis club from slowly being demolished by these lawless people.
“We already have opened nine cases of theft at the police (station) and the damages caused by these criminals account to nearly R800 000,” said Louis van der Merwe, vice-chairperson of the Drostdy Tennis Club in Magennis Park.
Whilst the UD Express was visiting the Club to photograph the damages, five criminals were brazenly busy demolishing a brick boundary wall surrounding the courts. Van der Merwe called the police, who reacted speedily, and one of the criminals was arrested at the tennis courts.
According to Van der Merwe the criminals load the bricks in grocery trollies and take them downtown to be sold.
“It is out of control. Nearly all the electrical cables and security lights have been stolen and as soon as we replace them, they get stolen again. In the latest incident the high mast flood light pole was pulled over in the process of stealing the cable.
“They have also started to section by section steal the court fencing. It is very expensive to replace the fence and we cannot leave it open. We have covered a section where the fence was stolen with shade cloth, but even that was stolen.”
The adjacent Magennis Park, once a tranquil and popular park for children to play in, with picnics being held next to the fountain and many wedding photographs being taken, now is in a state of disgrace. The fountain has been demolished; it is too dangerous for children to come and play at the play park and there are no picnics or wedding photo shoots because of the sewage overspill and danger of being robbed.
“One Saturday afternoon, not so long ago, we counted twelve wedding couples being photographed in the then beautiful park. This is all part of history as criminals now roam in the park.”
