Spirit overcomes overgrowth in fight for a space to play

With safety and security a rarity, a place to play free from criminal elements is a luxury reserved for those with means.

Overgrown sporting facilities with weed-filled cracks in their courts and rusted grandstands scattered around clubhouses covered in bad graffiti are an all too common sight. Fortunately, competitive spirit overcomes government neglect as various community groups, and concerned residents grabbed a pick and a shovel to clean up a municipal recreational facility, 10 April.

The netball courts on Exner Street, ironically situated across from the area’s centre of legal power, were a hijacked sewer of drugs and prostitution only a few weeks ago. Roodepoort ICE, an offshoot of the Florida-based volunteer security group, cleaned out the small change rooms and what was once a tuck shop, welding the doors shut to prevent the site from being reclaimed by pushers.

Roodepoort Community Development Project (RCDP) is a non-profit that is working with Roodepoort Sports Academy (RSA) to revitalise the parts of the sports precinct that have lacked the necessary attention in the past. RCDP chairperson, Taphelo Thekiso, has been trying to obtain the lease for the courts but claims Johannesburg Property Company has been less than helpful.

As with many sporting facilities in Roodepoort, organisations wishing to maximise the potential of the sites are unable to acquire funding from sponsors because they have no lease in place. RCDP has been given a user agreement or ‘permission to use’ permit which grants them access to the facility, but it needs to provide monthly attendance registers to have this renewed. “We just want to know what do you have to do to get a lease?” asked Taphelo.

Students who live in the Ukwazi School of Nursing accommodation are avid netball players who often had to walk by the long grass of the disused facility. “We know girls have been robbed here. We heard the call to help clean up and were happy to be involved. Everybody needs a place to enjoy their sport,” said student, Rocky Maluleke. Part of RCDP’s user agreement still leaves them liable for the facilities’ maintenance costs.

By the late afternoon, the main court looked as good as new and the day concluded with a Roodepoort ICE community meeting that addressed issues such as crime in the area, community patrols and upcoming community outreach programmes. The long-term vision of revival and restoration is not only for the sporting precinct, but for every street in every suburb.