Abandoned dreams: the tragic fall of Mitchells Plain's Swartklip Indoor Sports Centre

IOL News

6 days ago

The Swartklip Indoor Sports Centre
Image: Facebook
What was once a multi-million rand vision for youth development in Mitchells Plain, has been reduced to a ghost of its former promise, with broken foundations and crumbling infrastructure.
The Swartklip Indoor Sports Centre, built at a cost of R29 million, was intended to be a safe space for recreation, youth sport, and community upliftment in one of Cape Town's most under-resourced areas. Today, it lies abandoned, structurally unsound, and fenced off, its promise long since faded.
The facility was operational between 2010 and 2015, serving the community in the years around the FIFA World Cup. But within just five years, the building was declared unsafe and shut down. According to the Recreation and Parks Department, structural engineers recommended its closure after significant deformation and cracking were found caused by unstable ground conditions linked to an old landfill beneath the site.
Despite the landfill having been covered in 1988, settlement continued long after construction was completed in 2007. Foundations in the southern corner began to sink, deforming ground slabs and compromising structural integrity. Instead of repairs, the facility was shuttered indefinitely.
In the decade since its closure, the site has quietly racked up an annual management cost of R716,794.32, covering security and ablution services for limited outdoor activity. Meanwhile, the building itself has continued to deteriorate, fenced off and useless to the thousands of young people in Mitchells Plain, many of whom live with limited access to recreational infrastructure in the face of youth unemployment, school dropouts, and gang violence.
While the City has stated that the sports precinct is still used, it concedes the building is beyond repair, having explored numerous options including driving new piled foundations. These were found to be 'non-viable,' as the work would require partial demolition and could cause further damage. The most cost-effective option, according to the City, is full demolition, which began in 2023.
A feasibility study is now underway to determine future development possibilities for the sitebut even this is fraught with complications. A recent geotechnical assessment revealed landfill material just 2.1 metres below the surface, making future construction a high-risk and expensive undertaking.
Community voices have long asked why such a key resource has been left to rot while social challenges in the area continue to escalate.
On-the-ground community activist Joanie Fredericks from Tafelsig said the centre is an issue very close to her heart.
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The building has been deemed non-viable for repair
Image: Facebook
'I used to utilise that facility. It was a safe haven. The youth could come there and play sports and games such as after school ball games, talent competitions between different areas and chess. It was a safe space for them.'
She believes the problem lies in a lack of communication and consultation with the community.
'Instead of deciding how things should be, give us ownership. Give us the responsibility. The problem with that facility is that there was no communication with the community about getting involved. Why does it get plundered? Because there's no sense of ownership.'
Fredericks said government red tape created more barriers than solutions.
'It wasn't the security or the facility manager stopping the community from using it, it was the red tape, the endless applications, and no help. How can a system decide what a community needs?'
She's frustrated by what she calls a disconnect between government planning and lived reality.
'How do you put a government facility in the heart of a community but not cater to its needs? On weekends and in the evenings, you couldn't even use it because security was told to leave.
'We were willing to take on the responsibility, but again it was government arrogance. This goes to the foundation. It's much deeper than just a community problem.'
The facility, she said, served both sides of the line between Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain but no real dialogue was ever set up.
'We were introduced to it like Elon Musk dropped something extraterrestrial into the community and just left. You lock it up and leave with all your keys how does that make it a community facility?
'There are so many community members with integrity who would've looked after it but the facility was never made available to them. That kind of exclusion just breeds contempt.
'Put your arrogance aside, come to the community, be open and honest, and say: 'We messed up. What can we do together to fix it?''
Fredericks concluded: 'I can't even blame the ward councillors. Big decisions are made in the boardrooms of political empires.'
The sports centre was once the gem of the community
Image: Facebook
Ward Councillor Norman Adonis said the facility played a crucial role in bringing people together and creating opportunities for young people.
'The facility provided sport and recreation activities for the local community. We had various mega events bringing people from all areas in Cape Town, adding value to the community of Tafelsig,' Adonis said.
He added that it was his wish to see activities continue inside the existing building, but the damage caused by building on a former dumping site made that impossible.
'As the ward councillor, this would be my desire to continue having these activities in the current building. However, the reality is that the building deteriorated over time due to where it was built on a dumping site. Being raised and living here in Tafelsig, I know firsthand that the site was once where we dumped our household refuse,' he said.
Adonis said the building was officially condemned even before it was vandalised, with visible cracks in the walls pointing to a serious safety risk.
'The current conditions even before the vandalism saw the building condemned due to visible cracks in the wall. This meant that all activities had to come to an end for safety reasons, as we cannot turn a blind eye to reality.'
He said securing a replacement facility has been a top priority since taking office.
'My top priority when I was elected was to canvass the City to facilitate a replacement facility for my community. The department investigated options to repair it, but over time we would face the same challenge again. To prevent repeating the safety risks, together with the community, we are requesting a replacement facility,' Adonis said.
A concept document is currently being developed by officials, and Adonis said it will be taken back to the community for further discussion.
'The community is central to the discussion. We need buy-in from them to be the voice of what they want their community to look like.'
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