EThekwini denies letting down AmaZulu
AFTER many years of being “neglected” by the eThekwini Municipality, AmaZulu have decided to enter into a long-term relationship with the Sharks that will see them make Jonsson Kings Park Stadium their home base.
Usuthu have struggled for home venues this season to the extent that they have already used four different venues in seven months.
They started at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi before moving to Princess Magogo Stadium in
KwaMashu. They then relocated to the Moses Mabhida Stadium at the beginning of the year only to move to Kings Park last weekend.
Central to the club’s nomadic ways has been the poor state of pitches with general manager Lunga Sokhela blasting the eThekwini Municipality for their consistent change of home grounds.
“For over 12 years now we have been pleading with the municipality to give us facilities around Durban that are currently not being used and this getting run so that we can develop them.
“We have requested for all of Taylor Park, Maindin Sports Park and Umbilo Sports Field but they were not able to assist us,” he added.
The club is now at an advanced stage of negotiations with the Sharks for a partnership.
“There’s been discussions with the Sharks regarding a longer term relationship between the club as well as the franchise and the KZN Rugby Union. We are looking at sharing some of the facilities such as fields and medical centre and moving the whole structure across from Moses Mabhida to Jonsson King’s Park.
That will help us immensely for one really important reason. For us to really develop as a club, we need to function in an environment where all our junior and senior structures are in one place. This will make it easier for there to be an alignment between development and our professional ranks,” Sokhela said.
eThekwini Municipality head of parks and recreation Thembinkosi Ngcobo denied that they had let AmaZulu down over the past decade.
“Municipality facilities are not owned by individuals but they are owned by the public. There’s a process that needs to be followed if you want to use these facilities. No manager or politician can make that decision. Lunga did approach us, or should I say, AmaZulu did approach us. My response to them was they need to go around Durban and identify areas which attract them and thereafter do a proper application. Your application has to be a comprehensive proposal which details everything,” Ngcobo explained.
Ngcobo also stated that they are still waiting for AmaZulu to come back to them.
“Your proposal needs to state how much you will be investing in that facility and you want to be leased for how many years. They also need to state if they will pay rates or they will need assistance. They also have to tell us if the public will be allowed in that facility or not. After our discussion they never came back to us.”