This comes after the Sunward Park Football Club (SPFC) committee members complained that municipal workers stormed the Sunward Park sports field, demolished the floodlights belonging to the club and stole the electrical cables.
A total of eight poles together with floodlights were damaged beyond repair, and the cable was also dug out and stolen.
Ekurhuleni municipality spokesman Themba Gadebe said the municipality is investigating the matter, and should it be found that this was due to any wrongdoing on the side of municipal employees they (the workers) would be subjected to a disciplinary process.
“The incident where the floodlights at Sunward Park were removed and vandalised is unfortunate.
“EMM is in discussions with the football club to determine the best course of action to remedy the situation,” said Gadebe.
The chairman of SPFC, Bradley Berriman confirmed that a meeting between the metro and members of the SPFC committee was held, adding that the SPFC committee members were grateful to the council for taking the time to meet with them.
“In the meeting, it was found that the lights were illegally connected by the previous committee and no permission had been granted by council to erect them.
“The current committee was unaware of this and took it for granted that everything was above board.
“This was explained to the council members and they understood our frustration. An agreement has been reached between the two parties.
“The council has agreed to assist SPFC and the other clubs that utilise the ground where possible, and together we can build a sporting facility that will benefit the community as a whole.”
The SPFC committee members had previously cried foul over the municipality’s alleged decision to demolish the floodlights belonging to the club at the sports field.
Committee members furiously questioned the metro’s move, and said the municipality’s action had deprived the club of its only training ground.
According to the committee members, municipal workers recently damaged the floodlights beyond repair, and stole the electrical cables, leaving the football club in limbo.
The club also complained that football players could not train after dark due to the lack of floodlights at the club’s training ground.
Berriman said they couldn’t understand why the metro took the decision to vandalise their assets, as the two parties have prior to the vandalism held talks on the future of the facility.
Committee members claim that during the talks they were granted official permission to continue using the facility without making bookings, as they have been using it for the past couple of years.
The committee members, however, admitted that during a round of talks with the metro, prior to the incident, a municipality official, his name known to the Advertiser, stated that he was not happy with the floodlights, which he apparently said were too close to the houses and asked for them to be removed.
Berriman said he agreed that they would do something about the lights but explained that they needed time to raise enough money for the project. -@FanieFLK
Sunward Park FC accuses metro of vandalism, theft |
