Mafika Morajane has lauded the City of Johannesburg for the renovations undertaken at the Alexandra Stadium.
Though not complete as they are done in phases, Morajane, who is the secretary general of the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association, said they were quite happy with the work so far which has resulted in the opening of LFA House as the administration block for local football.
“We understand the work will be done in phases, and the completion of the current phase has delighted us as we have been able to return to our home to do what we know best, running and attending to the affairs of the local football league,” Morajane said.
Some renovations requested by the association, which included the erection of a high fence around the stadium to ensure the retention of ball, have not been done yet. Morajane and his executive had urged the city council to erect the high fence as they were experiencing a high number of lost balls during matches, which are usually kicked beyond the fence and into the residential area. Morajane said he was confident this will be attended to in the next phase on a date still be finalised.
Although some community members are co-operative and tend to return the balls, a good number of balls are lost as a result. “One ball can cost more than R1 000 and you can image how of those can be lost in a single match,” he said.
During a weekend, for instance, Morajane said more than five matches were played at the stadium per day, excluding evening matches for the ABC Motsepe League which is a precursor to the National First Division.
“We are grateful to the city council for acceding to our request for the erection of a high fence and once this is done, I hope our ball retention will be much better.”
Morajane said clubs could not afford to buy balls week in and week out as they finance the running of the teams from their meagre earnings. This money could be channelled to other uses, especially developing children and taking them off from the streets and away from mischief, he said.
