Mega-events remove focus from real need

WHILE our municipality wastes ratepayers’ dosh overseas fact-finding missions for everyone and their dog, as well as bare-breasted dances which have little place in modern society, the burden on taxpayers increases as, lucky us, we now have the 2022 Commonwealth Games to fund, too!

Initially, the costs were estimated at R3.4 billion – unless that was just a sop to the beleaguered ratepayers. Now the figure sits at around R6.4 billion.

Just think what it might have spiralled to by 2022.

But should this kind of spending be our priority? Close to where I live in Westville, land invaders regularly make bids to illegally occupy vacant land which has apparently been set aside for apartment buildings.

While suburban residents have been primed to call in the police to deal with this ongoing problem (let’s face it, nobody wants an unsightly squatter camp on their doorstep) we can understand the would-be squatter’s frustrations.

Now, with the games securely in Durban’s grasp (Thanks a lot, Edmonton), the municipality will presumably take their time in the building of Cornubia, so as to ensure the section that accommodates athletes is pristine and creates a good impression when they move into their brand spanking new digs.

So what about the 20 000 subsidised low-cost homes which were destined for this mixed-use development? Have they been built? Will they be built before 2022? Also, who will eventually be housed there? The Kennedy Road shack dwellers who protested alongside the freeway this week, or MK “veterans”?

And how will these homes dovetail with the middle-income units where the games participants are to stay?

Or will they simply erect a sturdy barbed wire fence to separate the “haves” from the “have nots”?

Those who were evicted prior to the 2010 World Cup from the vicinity of King Zwelethini Stadium in Umlazi, and from Siyanda in KwaMashu and Richmond Farm, where roads were being built, apparently still have no homes, despite a high court ruling that they be housed.

Come on! This is a developing country. Let’s concentrate on housing, education, water provision and health care priorities before hosting these flashy mega-events. J MAGREE

Durban