Golf facility left to decay
Daveyton – Poor maintenance and management of Daveyton Golf Course have left the facility vandalised.
According to a local golfer, the players often complain to the management about the state of the facility.
“There are times when a month passes by without the grass being cut.
“This makes it hard for us to practise and host tournaments,” he says.
He adds that the inside of the facility is also problematic.
“The security fence has been damaged and it has not been repaired.
“When we complain about it to the ward councillor they either tell us that they will fix it or that there is no budget,” he says.
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Michele Clarke MPL – DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Community Safety – says that the DA has conducted an oversight visit to the facility.
“I was shocked by the state [of the place]. The security fence was vandalised and the grass was long.
She says that the golf course was developed to address the shortage of golfing facilities and training for the community, but asks, “How do we expect golfers to play in the facility with long grass?
The MPL says she had learned from a reliable source working in the facility that the grass had not been cut in months.
“Half of the security fence is missing and this leads to the vandalisation of the offices inside the facility.
“The general maintenance of the facility is chaotic,” she says, adding that it is disheartening for the government to spend millions on sports facilities that are left abandoned.
“They are supposed to uplift the children within the community but they now lack the basic management and maintenance skills to sustain them,” she says.
Ekurhuleni spokesman Themba Gadebe says that the grass at the golf course is being cut, but they have a challenge with the old machinery that needs to be replaced.
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“The missing wall was due to the riots that took place in the area last year and the protesters damaged it. The matter has been reported to the police and further to claim insurance.
“The facility was not abandoned at all.”
He adds that there is a team that maintains the facility, as well as other facilities in the Daveyton and Etwatwa areas, on a rotational basis.
