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A DA oversight inspection of municipal sport infrastructure in Musina and Fetakgomo Tubatse revealed that these facilities that were built at great cost have become neglected and dilapidated white elephants.

We have written to the Limpopo Sport, Arts and Culture MEC, Thandi Moraka, to engage, cooperate and support municipalities in better maintaining and utilising their sport infrastructure.

The Masisi Sports Centre in Musina Municipality has no security guards and this has led to the vandalism and dilapidated state of a facility that was built less than 4 years ago. View pictures here, here and here.

Madimbo Sports Centre in Musina municipality also has no guards, and has been vandalised. Equipment at the facility – including water pumps – has also been stolen and the facility is in a state of disrepair. These two Musina facilities cost in excess of R12 million. View pictures here, here and here.

Ntoampe Sport Centre in Fetakgomo Tubatse which was upgraded at a cost of R3 million is a shell of what it once was after it was vandalised and stripped of all the fencing and bathroom fixtures. View pictures here, here and here.

It is clear that these facilities have fallen victim to neglect, incompetence and poor management. We cannot continue to let taxpayer money – that could have been used for other priorities – go to waste while other services in municipalities collapse.

The department has a responsibility to make sport and recreation accessible to all people in the province and to maximise access, development and excellence at all levels of participation in sport and recreation.

MEC Moraka and her department must engage, support and assist municipalities in ensuring the complexes are regularly in use for sporting and other purposes, and to share best practices in securing and maintaining sport infrastructure.

The DA is a caring party that believes that sport plays a vital role in social cohesion and that sport infrastructure should be well maintained in order to benefit the residents it is intended for.

Issued by Katlego Suzan Phala MPL - DA Limpopo Spokesperson on Sport, Arts and Culture