Sports facilities to be renovated soon
Upgrading of sports facilities has been prioritised.
BARBERTON – Umjindi Local Municipality (ULM) is determined to take sports to another level.
This was revealed by the executive mayor of ULM, Cllr Lazarus Mashaba, during an interview with Mpumalanga News. “We know our children are very talented, we want to start to shape their talent at an early age.
“The mayoral cup was just the beginning of bigger things to come. As time progresses, if we have sufficient funds, we would like to host a mayoral cup for each and every sporting code because our aim is to develop and promote sports in our community,” said Mashaba.
This publication learnt that some of the facilities were dilapidated as they had been vandalised by community members.
This reporter visited a local tennis court, which was now in a dismal state. In the past it used to be utilised by the youth.
When this reporter visited the centre, it was discovered that most of the equipment was badly damaged as were the toilets.
Mashaba said that upgrading of sports facilities had been prioritised. “We are going to renovate our sports facilities to be user-friendly.
“All along we were focusing on improving service delivery, now we want to be hands-on in terms of shaping the talent of our children in sports,” concluded Mashaba.
Local teams had complained previously that the municipality was not doing enough when it came to supporting local teams or sports. It is a well-known fact that back in the days, this town was renowned for producing young, talented football players who did well on the national stage.
This include players such as Vusi Makhanya who played for the under-23 national team, Ayanda Xaba who played for Barberton City Stars and is currently playing for Orlando Pirates and Mduduzi “Iron” Ntiwane who played for Real Rovers, Dynamos and Ria Stars and now works as a sports producer on Ligwalagwala FM.
