OPINION: Gauteng has excellent athletics facilities, but they need to be maintained

When athletes from other African countries come to South Africa, they’re not shy to remind us how fortunate we are to have the facilities we do in this country.

And they’re not wrong. Watch a video clip of Kenyan athletes training and they’ll either be running on a dirt road or a grass track.

The facilities at NWU in Potchefstroom, for example, are so good that some of the world’s best track and field athletes camp there during the off-season.

Pop down to Puk McArthur Stadium at this time of year and you will bump into World Championship and Olympic medallists at just about every turn.

Poorly maintained

But some of South Africa’s facilities are not being maintained properly, and while this has been a problem in other provinces as well, it’s becoming a real issue in Gauteng.

When I’m working at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria, I’ll head down to the velodrome next to the track when I want some space, and it’s the most depressing sight. It’s clear no cyclists have used the velodrome in years and there is grass growing out of cracks in the concrete. It’s such a waste.

And the athletics track isn’t much better. At the 100m start line the surface is so torn up it might as well be made from cinders.

According to officials at Athletics Gauteng North (AGN), the local municipality is just not coming to the party, and AGN administrators have previously had to use their own lawnmowers to make Pilditch look more presentable at provincial athletics meetings.

On the other side of Gauteng, in Boksburg, it seems things are hardly any better.

As someone who spent many hours circling the Boksburg Stadium track in my teen years, it’s disappointing to hear the complaints emerging from people who are trying to use the facilities.

Images have been shared of the poor state of the stadium. There are holes in the track, the discus throw cage is drowning in water (as are parts of the track) and the long jump pit looks like a jungle.

In recent years coaches and athletes have allegedly been turned away at the gate or locked out, and apparently even Olympic sprinter Lythe Pillay has had trouble gaining access.

Similar complaints have also been shared by people trying to use the track at Ruimsig Stadium in Roodepoort.

Stadiums are for athletes

We are fortunate to have the facilities we do in South Africa, and we should be grateful, but if the government is going to invest in stadiums, these things need to be maintained and the public needs access.

What’s the point of building these stadiums and then just letting them crumble into ruins? Or not allowing athletes to use the tracks for the very purpose they were built?

These stadiums might belong to the government but they were built for athletes, and the people at the municipalities responsible for maintaining them would do well to remember that.