With municipality elections gone TOUCHLINE challenges those who will be in power to take the following into considerations: For the past ten years sports have been neglected when it comes to facilities or playing conditions in this region.
It is time to deliver, no more lip service!
This is not a secret, the poor playing fields hamper the progress of our sports. There are no more decent sporting facilities in our townships like it was the case in the past. It is really frustrating to see the state of our facilities in our areas after all these years, in a democracy nogal!
There were a lot of promises prior to the municipal elections and TOUCHLINE hopes that those were not empty promise just to get votes. TOUCHLINE heard politicians promise people jobs but there was no party that was brave enough to highlight the need to upgrade sports facilities in our area.
For example, there are no more soccer fields with more than two fields in our community to host big sporting events. The Zone 3 Stadium was the only venue with two soccer field but now the venue is no longer the same because of lack of maintenance.
We all know that football is number sport in the world but recently this beautiful game has been neglected in terms of facilities. It is sad because now we take football away from community because of lack of facilities in our area.
Point in case, the SAFA Sedibeng Regional play-offs took place at NWU Vaal Campus recently. This is because there was no venue with two soccer field in the townships to host those promotional play offs. The once beautiful George Thabe’s pitch has become the opposite of what it used to be in the past. The is a venue that is part of the 2010 World Cup legacy, but nothing suggests that the Ivory Coast National team used the venue as their training ground during the 2010 World Cup. The venue is slowly deteriorated because of lack of maintenance.
TOUCHLINE knows for a fact that sports people voted for the betterment of the sporting facilities in the community. The OR Tambo Games selection also had to take place at unplayable condition outside the George Thabe Stadium recently. The youngsters didn’t express their God given talent properly because of the conditions of the fields.
As if this is not enough, the regional squads’ selection took place at General Smuts because the municipality sporting facilities are not in a proper condition.
Mind you, OR Tambo Games are part of government initiatives, but the very same government doesn’t have proper facilities to host their own sporting activities.
TOUCHLINE’S plea to the political parties who will be in power in the local municipalities is that they must make sporting facilities their top priority in the community. They must upgrade the “white elephant” sporting venues in our area. It is time to deliver the promises you made prior to elections, promising us heaven on earth, saying you will do this and that if we vote your party in power.
No more lip services, it is time to walk the talk!
