Many people may welcome rains as water is a much-needed resource, but sometimes this can cause chaos, as done by the recent showers, when many places were damaged by hail.
One of these places was the Bosman Stadium, the headquarters for CCC Brakpan Rugby Club.
Last Thursday’s storm saw water coming through the clubhouse and the pub, causing major damage to the property at the club.
“It’s something we haven’t seen in many years. We had big rains in the past, but this hail was unbelievable. We had a bit of damage inside at the office, on the balcony and all the ceilings,” said the club chairperson Harry Nieuwenhuis.
“Luckily on the inside where the pavilion is and inside the tunnel, we got away with it. There was not that much damage there. Trees fell over and we had problems.”
Another issue at the stadium is the drainage system. Days after the storm the A-field was still impossible to use.
“It’s water-logged in such a way that we still can’t walk on it. The water is now a big issue again,” said Nieuwenhuis.
With the club already in training for the 2023 season, this could prove problematic. Brakpan, however, has been able to use the B-field to train.
The lighting will also become a problem. “The lights in the main pavilion were knocked,” said the chairperson.
“Most of the electricity on the premises got knocked. It also tripped the alarms.”
Nieuwenhuis has been in Brakpan for many years and was shocked by what happened.
“It was weird. The hail came down in sizes of what looked like 50-cent coins. We haven’t seen something like that in a very long time,” he said.
The club is currently working on getting quotes on how much money they will need to fix the damage.
“We are waiting for quotations to come in for the electronics, alarms, etc. It’s difficult to estimate right now,” he said.
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The stadium is owned by the City of Ekurhuleni, but a lot of the damage inside the pavilions and offices could be the responsibility of the club. The club still needs to know which part the metro’s insurance will cover.
“I’ve inquired from the council about insurance and are waiting for feedback on that,” said Nieuwenhuis.
“Let’s see when they can come back to us. I think they have similar problems with a few stadiums.”
In the meantime, Brakpan will continue training for next season as they want to improve on this year’s performances.
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