Toekies sports grounds in shambles
Resident: The gate around the field is locked for no reason. What good is it then?
Community members from Toekomsrus have had it with the state of their stadium and how they are treated as strangers when they want to use it.
Zurina Smith is but one resident from Toekomsrus who has a problem with the stadium.
“We just want to gym here at night. Paying for an actual gym is expensive but when we get here the gate around the field is locked.”
When the Herald visited the Toekomsrus sports grounds, the main gate was open but the soccer field, which is the only field with cut grass and is the main attraction on the grounds, was locked.
Smith explained that most members of the Toekomsrus community do not have access to the field.
“I don’t know what it is but we can’t use this field. We have approached the security guards for the keys but they either tell us they don’t have it or change their story and say they can’t open for us,” she said.
She said she has been told the pitch has to rest but said the pitch seems to rest only when people from the community want to make use of it.
I don’t understand why they can unlock the field for soccer tournaments but not for us, the community. I don’t even know who plays in these tournaments. Are the teams even from Toekomsrus?”
There is space on the outside of the soccer field to make use of but the spaces are full of litter and broken glass.
Upon inspection, the Herald found an open manhole as well as a broken metal sheet on the pavilion which is a danger to people especially at night when it’s dark.
The Toekomsrus sports grounds also has a remnant of a rugby field which at the time the Herald visited seems not to have been cut for a long time. One of the rugby poles, although rusted was still present, however, the other was gone.
It’s dangerous here at night. If we run around the area of the soccer field, there are ditches and holes we can fall into. This place is also a breeding ground for youngsters getting up to no good. Everybody wants the youth off the streets but what are they supposed to do when the only field is locked?”
“At this point we just want the keys, we’ll hand it back in when we’re done but we need to make use of this field. It was built for us, what use is it if we can’t use it?” Smith said.
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