Members of Bo-Kaap Handball Club are frustrated that the fence at the court they used to practice and host league games has still not been repaired.
The fence was damaged during a storm in October and Patricia van der Ross, the mayoral committee member for community services and health, said it would be repaired before the end of December 2023.
The storm had caused extensive damage to the neighbouring flats as well as the sports facility (“Sports courts to be repaired by December”, October 19, 2023.)
Gakeem Staggie, manager of the Bo-Kaap Handball Club, says he and the players even had to clean up the Wectec court before training.
“Last week someone cut the trees and left the branches on the court and all around it, I haven’t seen the council cleaning up here in a long time,” said Mr Staggie.
“So we do train here sometimes but it’s not the best because of the broken fence and the dirt just left around the place. We have to play at a neutral venue and that is costing us as we have to arrange transport whereas the players and their families and friends could just walk to the venue,” he said.
Francine Higham, councillor for Ward 77, says there were delays with the supply chain management processes over the festive period.
“We’re hoping to have the fencing repaired in March. We did offer the handball team the option of booking the Schotsche Kloof Civic Centre as an alternative venue in the interim,” said Ms Higham.
She said the City is responsible for cleaning the property on a regular basis and that they were there last Thursday to attend to the concerns raised by residents about the condition of the property.
“I visited the site on Friday to see for myself the condition of the property. I am not yet satisfied that the concerns have been properly addressed and so I’ve again followed up with the responsible officials from the Recreation and Parks Department requesting that they please return to the site to clean it properly as soon as possible. If residents have any specific concerns they are welcome to contact me directly to escalate,” Ms Higham said.
Mr Staggie says they cannot train or play at the civic centre as there is a nursery school operating on the premises.
At the time of going to print there was no response from Ms Van der Ross.
