The concrete truth

THE letter in the Cape Times titled “Inequity continues” (June 25, 2015) refers.

I am once again appalled by Councillor Ehrenreich’s diatribe and am personally offering to take him on a tour of the Uitsig sports complex. He turns a blind eye to the progress being made in his community. Clearly he has made very little contribution to the improvements of Uitsig.

The Uitsig sports complex has been repeatedly vandalised, therefore our strategy includes a R2 million phased approach. The boundary fence is being replaced with a 2,4m-high wall consisting of giant concrete slabs that cannot be stolen. The clubhouse, ablution block and caretakers’ cottage will all be fenced off.

Facilities which are cared for and protected by the communities are not subject to the same degree of vandalism as those at Uitsig. where community leaders have not supported neighbourhood watch organisations and friends’ groups.

As a short-term strategy, we have deployed an expanded public works programme access controller, not to be a security guard, but to be our eyes and ears and assist with the overall running of the facility. Uitsig is being used as a thoroughfare and this results in indiscriminate littering.

The sports ground in Parow is undergoing routine maintenance to replace the roof sheeting and is not being turned into a covered stadium.

Cllr Ehrenreich should lead more concrete service delivery by encouraging his community to take ownership of the facilities in their area. This would be more constructive than repetition of misinformation.