DUE to the advanced state of neglect, the three tennis courts and an outdoor squash wall, adjacent to the New Germany Community Hall, could easily be mistaken as a post-apocalyptic movie set.
Riona Gokool the DA PR Councillor for Ward 21, said she was fully aware of the issues regarding the tennis court and has, on numerous occasions, liaised with the eThekwini Municipality’s Parks Department regarding this and many other issues in the ward.
“I am aware that the tennis court issue is not recent, however, during the initial stages of lockdown, these facilities were, unfortunately, not being maintained. This department has a tendency to spend money on ‘nice to haves’ instead of on service delivery issues,” said Gokool.
She said the department has focussed on events instead of its core mandate, such as grass cutting and the maintenance of recreational facilities.
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“This is something the DA always challenges at committee, exco and council level. Evidence of this is the fact that the weed eradication contract has not been finalised and continues to be in limbo for the past couple of years, yet more than R8 million was spent on virtual converts during lockdown,” said the councillor.
Shocked by the state of the grounds, the chairman of the New Germany Community Policing Forum (CPF), Tony da Canha, said, “I can only imagine that we are paying our rates and taxes for this, for a service that we can no longer use.”
“The football area is being used. We have no other facilities here in the area. There is Lahee Park, but that is in Pinetown and it is also such a mess. These facilities are for New Germany residents and they should be fixed. Why did it stop all of a sudden? It just needs fixing. If it’s repaired, people will come and use it!”
During an on-site inspection, da Canha pointed out the fence that surrounds one section of the tennis courts.
“It is so neglected that even the fence poles have literally rusted away. It is now the fence holding the poles up,” he quipped.
He noted the New Germany Community Hall received a much-needed coat of paint and that the parking lot had been replaced and repainted. A cement fence had also been installed.
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“The other point that needs to be raised is that it (the community hall) has also become quite dangerous to park at as a few cars have been stolen from the site,” he said.
The eThekwini Municipality’s spokesman, Msawakhe Mayisela said the tennis courts were leased to the New Germany Tennis Club and, when the club closed down, it indicated that it was not able to continue as a club.
“The council and the department are looking for potential sports codes that would be interested in taking on a lease for these facilities. They would need to provide their sports body constitution, their development plan and their financial records as a sports club for the department to enter into a lease agreement, or MOU with that sporting code. To date, the department has only had an application for motor track sports to be held on these grounds,” said Mayisela.
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