TOO BAD TO PLAY
Sports facilities have been hit for six
The continued vandalism of sports facilities in the Enoch Mgijima municipal area has raised major concerns among sport stalwarts who fear their complete destruction by the end of the year.
The condition of Dumpy Adams Sports Complex is said to be the worst in Komani as the change rooms have been broken into and vandalised since the beginning of 2018.
Windows have been shattered, toilets and basins are broken, dysfunctional and no longer working, while taps and pipes have been stolen.
The cricket nets are torn and the cricket mat has been damaged.
Chris Hani South African Football Association (Safa) president Sandile Mata said all sport facilities in the municipal area were in a poor state which had a negative impact on sport development, particularly among young people.
Mata said the issue had been raised a long time ago with municipal officials but there had been no communication on what could be done.
“The people who use the sports facilities at Dumpy Adams, especially women and girls, are not safe. There are no working toilets. We recently held provincial soccer trials for U19 women and it was embarrassing for us as hosts when they needed to use the bathroom.
“We had to take them to a colleague’s home nearby because we could not expect them to relieve themselves in an open field. This is a serious concern which I am passionate about, but the people who are supposed to help us, have been keeping mum.”
Mata said he had personally spoken to the now suspended municipal manager Chris Magwangqana about this matter, who promised to attend to the concerns.
“We urgently need security guards at all sports fields and not just a caretaker whose job it is to maintain the fields. The same problems are experienced in Tarkastad, Molteno, Sterkstroom, Ezibeleni stadium and in Ilinge.”
Mata said the Ilinge Stadium was built for R10m but it was still incomplete.
Cricket co-ordinator in the Chris Hani region, Viwe Yawa, said the cricket nets and pitch were in such a bad
state that they no longer were able to host professional games due to them not meeting the standard requirements.
“We can not even secure sponsors to buy the equipment as such equipment is not safe there. The perpetrators have torn the nets and removed pieces of the mats. This is a serious concern.”
Yawa said rugby teams had also started training on the cricket pitch, which was adding to its destruction.
“Everything about the Dumpy Adams grounds is frustrating for me because I work with young children and it is not safe. When we play there we take a risk that could land a child in hospital. We can not even have a cricket hub in this region because our facility does not meet the requirements – it’s sad.”
Yawa said he had also reported the matter to the municipality who said a meeting with stakeholders would be called to discuss the matter and to come up with solutions, but that had not been done yet.
Local soccer chair Jan Draghoender said if the municipality did not urgently attended to security at the Dumpy Adams grounds, the facility would be ruined by the end of this year.
“If the facility is not fixed we will be unable to host big league games like that of the ABC Motsepe league currently underway. The state of the facility is an embarrassment and if the matter is not resolved, the interest in sport among the youth will fade away and result in them becoming involved in wrong things.”
EMLM spokesperson Fundile Feketshane had not commented at the time of going to press.