No level playing field as eThekwini Municipality struggles to maintain Chatsworth's sports grounds

IOL News

6 days ago

The abandon changeroom in 306 grounds in Westcliff, Chatsworth The abandon changeroom in 306 grounds in Westcliff, Chatsworth
Image: Jehran Naidoo
The eThekwini Municipality admitted that the cost and effort of maintaining publicly owned sports fields in the Chatsworth community, south of Durban, have been passed over to private residents.
The Municipality was vague when answering questions about where exactly the funds and former employees who tended to community sports fields had disappeared to. This followed an inspection of over six football fields in the community. The football fields visited were in areas including Havenside, Bayview, Westcliff, Woodhurst, Moorton and Croftdene.
During the visit, representatives from the Chatsworth Local Football Association and Greenstroke Football Club attested to the poor conditions into which municipal fields have fallen. Both the Chairman of the Chatsworth LFA and Greenstroke Football Club said the eThekwini Municipality's effort and level of upkeep of community sports fields are 'barely non-existent.'
They said years of complaints and requests have fallen on deaf ears.
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Image: Independent Media
There are only three sports fields with functional ablution facilities in Chatsworth, all of which have been paid for and taken over by football clubs in the LFA, said Sphinx Kuppen, President of the Chatsworth LFA.
Kuppen said the Chatsworth LFA, local sponsors and the football clubs themselves have taken control of these three facilities.
"The Municipality just wants to say they own this place, but they don't do a damn thing to take care of it," Kuppen told Independent Media at the 1009 grounds in Woodhurst.
The eThekwini Municipality has effectively shifted the burden of maintaining its own public assets like football fields onto the football clubs and local football associations themselves, he explained.
But this week, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the City allocates a minimal budget for upkeep and maintenance.
"Does the City have a budget for upkeep of municipally owned sports fields around the City? If so, what is it?" we asked.
'Yes, the City allocates a minimal operational budget to the various districts around the City,' Sisilana said.
During our tour of Greenstroke FC's training ground in Westcliff, called '306 grounds', club chairman Kelvin Munsamy said the only time the grass is watered is when it rains. Munsamy showed us around the field and the abandoned change room.
'If you look around you, you can see the condition of the surface we play on. It's mostly sand and dust with some weeds and grass in between. The eThekwini Municipality never waters the pitch. The only time it gets water is when it rains and when that happens it becomes waterlogged for days on end. It's just always something going wrong.
'I remember when I first joined this club, there used to be officials from our municipality stationed at this ground. Not just here, but all over Chatsworth. And their sole purpose was maintaining the grounds,' Munsamy said.
Patches of grass can be seen on the sand filled soccer field at the 306 grounds in Chatsworth. Patches of grass can be seen on the sand filled soccer field at the 306 grounds in Chatsworth.
Image: Jehran Naidoo
"They even had working tractors back then. All of that is now gone and it's like that entire budget they had disappeared as well. The community never receives answers but are always told they have no money. So I think the eThekwini Municipality has completely failed the Chatsworth community when it comes to something as simple as our sports fields."
Kuppen also confirmed that the designated municipal officials "disappeared over the years".
When asked about the designated maintenance staff that used to be stationed at community sports fields, Sisilana admitted that the Municipality had abdicated its duties to taxpayers.
'The current sports fields team has a handful of employees whose focus is to maintain the pitch (actual playing field). A request for more funds has been submitted to enhance capacity, thus improving service delivery.
'The Municipality has started filling vacancies again where funds are available,' Sisilana said.