Short-term leases leave Randburg's international sports facility in limbo

News24

3 hours ago

Randburg Sports Complex faces decay due to decade-long lease renewal delays, causing sponsorship losses and leaving clubs unable to maintain safety, infrastructure, or facilities.
Local sports codes, residents, and a petition demand long-term leases to restore the facility.
The City of Johannesburg has promised to address the issue through the Johannesburg Property Company, but progress remains stalled, prompting local advocates to escalate their efforts to provincial and national levels.
Johannesburg residents braved the cold last Thursday evening to speak about the Randburg Sports Complex, an internationally recognised sports facility, which they claim has not renewed its leases for the last 10 years.
News24 was told that the various sporting disciplines, or 'codes', that use the facility can only renew their licences monthly.
The facility has hosted several international tournaments over the years but is now losing out on sponsorships because sponsors cannot be guaranteed that the various sporting codes will still be around in the next few months if the City denies them an extension on their leases.
People who attended Thursday's event said they could no longer afford the upkeep of their fields, fences, lighting, and security. The knock-on effect is that the facility is no longer a safe space.
At the meeting, coaches spoke about vehicles being stolen or hijacked as parents waited for their children to finish coaching, children being held up with weapons and having their valuables stolen, and coaches being beaten up by thieves inside the facility.
Now, a petition with over 1 600 responses demands that the City immediately grant 'fair, long-term leases' to the clubs 'who have kept this place alive against all odds'.
'For over 10 years, clubs and sports codes have been denied leases, leaving them powerless to invest or restore. What was once a safe, thriving space for families, athletes, and youth is now falling into disrepair, overrun by crime and unsavoury activity,' the petition states.
'With commitment and community, we can rebuild, revive, and protect the future of Randburg.'
The petition is headed by Ward 102 Councillor Lucinda Harman, who said that the sports complex, once the heartbeat of the community, was crumbling.
'This is more than just a sports facility. It's part of Randburg's identity. Its decline is dragging down surrounding businesses, property values, and community safety. We refuse to watch our shared space rot away while bureaucracy stalls progress,' the petition states, a sentiment repeated by the various sporting codes which spoke on Thursday.
The City of Johannesburg, however, said that the city sport and recreation director recently engaged with Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), which conducted a site visit to the facility.
'The process is ongoing as JPC considers extending the duration of the existing agreements to accommodate the clubs' needs,' the City said, adding that a workshop with JPC was 'scheduled soon to address and finalise issues related to all current agreements'.
The City said all clubs and entities operating at the complex enter into annual or seasonal usage agreements with sport and recreation.
'These agreements stipulate that each club is responsible for securing and maintaining their respective clubhouses and playing fields, as well as settling utility bills for water and electricity.
'Following the expiry of these lease agreements, sport and recreation submitted applications for permission to build and occupy through the JPC. This initiative aims to support the clubs by providing an opportunity to establish long-term occupancy arrangements,' it stated.
READ | Officials cut Komani sports field tender period, disregarded top bidder – Public Protector
The sports complex hosts a wide variety of sporting codes, including astro hockey, five-a-side and six-a-side soccer, soccer development, K9 dog school, pigeon racing, basketball, diggers rugby, baseball, running, social tennis, and netball.
On Thursday, Harman told the gathered that the complex was an 'international sports facility precinct and needs to be respected as such'.
Despite being invited to the meeting, the City's Department of Community Development, JPC, and the Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation failed to attend.
'The fact that the City is not here is an insult - when it comes to 2026, [residents] will repay the insult,' Harman said.
All attendees to the event were given an opportunity to speak.
Andrew Collison, chair of the Diggers Rugby Club, said the club had around 900 members and had been at the complex since 1990.
'We desperately need a lease so we can invest in our grounds. Staff, lighting, and security all need to be paid for. We need investment which [will come from the] private [sector], but I've been part of the exco for 10 years and have only seen month-to-month leases. Potential sponsors won't get involved unless we up security, etc,' he said.
We don't want to close down. When the complex becomes unsafe, the entire area becomes unsafe.
Sheila Brown from the SA Hockey Federation spoke passionately about the Randburg Sports Complex. Brown is a hockey legend who played in the 1970s and has helped host several international games at the facility.
Unlike the other disciplines, hockey has been given a long-term lease of the facility through the province. Brown attended to support the codes less fortunate than the Hockey Club.
She said the All Africa Games were held at the complex in 1999, and a synthetic surface, often referred to as astro turf after the manufacturer of the most popular synthetic surface, was set down for the games. The council relayed the surface in 2006.
'We have a good relationship at the national level, and we got a [long-term] lease with Gauteng Sports and Recreation,' she said.
Because of the artificial surface, hockey is played all year round, with around 5 000 people using the facility.
She said the Southern Gauteng League had played at the facility, but the Premier League had not been able to play there lately because the field's surface needed replacing.
'Currently, we oversee day-to-day maintenance, but the big projects are looked after by council - that's surfaces changerooms - the costs are enormous,' she said, adding that the facility catered for many schools and clubs with players from 7 to 77 years old.
'The surfaces have outlived their guarantee,' she said.
Brown said in the 80s and 90s, tournaments at the stadium brought R48 million to Randburg within four years, and the complex was first built to host hockey events.
'We had the Belgium team ask when the surface will be fixed because they want to come and play - this will bring money to Randburg and then into the province,' she said.
Chase Bernic, MD at Fives Premier League, a five-a-side soccer club, said that at full capacity, the club had 16 teams on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with about 300 children, excluding families who come to watch.
'[The Fives Premier League] easily brings 200 people to watch. It's a place where people come to connect. We've been competing at the complex since 2016, and we've seen kids play at the academy and local football and become professional [players],' he said.
He said the venue was more than just a sports facility; it was a place where friendships were forged, where people ate together and got healthy together.
'Month-to-month [contracts] make it hard to plan or get funding - how can people fix lighting if they don't know if the lease will be renewed? Even if there were 11 to12 month leases, we could have funding - this would renew sponsorship, and we could have a world-renowned place once again, expanding our offering and creating more jobs,' Bernic said, adding that the complex wasn't 'just a facility - it's a heartbeat'.
The Randburg Mets Baseball Club were also represented at the meeting. The club is most famous for producing Gift Ngoepe, who debuted for the Pittsburgh Pirates in American Major League Baseball in 2017.
Ngoepe's mother, Maureen, worked at the clubhouse where the two lived when Gift was growing up.
The club has lost two major sponsorship deals because they could not guarantee they wouldn't lose the lease.
Their fields were last upgraded in 1999, so Boksburg is now the only club out of three in Gauteng to meet international standards. All major games go to Boksburg now instead of Randburg, costing Johannesburg millions in tourism.
The Mets have put up new fencing, but they lost an overhead mast, which means they can no longer train at night.
Randburg Football Club chairperson Kevin Mudie said the club had 600 players and had seen six people move from the development club to the South African football ranks.
He lamented that the lack of long-term leases meant they did not have sponsorship to fix their fence, which had been broken for two years after a car crash. He said a child from the club had recently had a knife to his throat and his bag stolen.
Tony Marsay from ADI Driving School said security was the issue, but the school did not have permission to build a fence. As a result, he said vagrants were now sleeping in the yard.
The school is 22 years old, and Marsay said a lease would make a big difference to the school, 'but we're at the mercy of council'.
He added that he had received a call from 'someone' who 'asked if we could rent the space for a Chicken Licken to move in - so I said 'No'. There is a chance now that they go to council [to ask for permission] and that's something I worry about,' he said.
The Randburg Cricket Club said people had had their vehicles stolen from the sports complex, but it was not financially viable for them to put up fencing, which would cost R800 000 without sponsorship. It recently had its pitch covers, which cost R50 000 each, stolen.
SuperKids, a facility for children to develop sporting skills before moving into teams, said it had to let go of three corporate social investments (CSIs) funding opportunities worth R26 million, R18 million and R5 million because of the leasing issue.
Teachers and principals from schools in the area were also present in the room. One head teacher said it would be detrimental for their school to lose a sports ground because it did not have its own.
A teacher said they were in a similar position, but the school she taught at had installed a synthetic hockey field at another sports complex in exchange for using the facility. She said their investment came with a 10-year guarantee because that is how long the field would be insured for.
Ending the evening, Harman said residents and sporting codes would 'have to fight' to ensure they received their long-term leases to keep the centre alive.
She said she would hand the petition to council and would question the lease agreements in council.
'The more light that goes on a situation, the more difficult it is to suppress the issue. We need to stand together - sports codes, parents interested parties,' she said.
She said she would keep going to council to query the leases and eventually go to the province and Parliament if the answer did not come.
'It will get to a point where it gets embarrassing [for the City],' she said.