Members of the Welgedacht and Rosa Ringbal clubs use the ringbal courts to practise at night.Sus Louw, Protea referee, says they all work, therefore they can only practice after hours.
The electrical cables attached to the meters has been vandalised and there is not electricity to allow the players to practice efficiently.
“Without electricity it is only possible to practice until it gets dark, which only gives about an hour,” says Louw.
”Two weeks ago the metro’s parks department contacted me and asked for the keys to the ablution block, which were handed over to them.
“They needed the keys because they want to upgrade the toilets,” she says.
Louw says the metro mentioned a recognised booking system where the club committee has to inform the Sports and Recreation Department of any event that will be hosted at the venue, but the committee is not aware of this arrangement.
Themba Gadebe, metro spokesman, says the metro have a system in place where the club committee should inform the relevant department prior to any event.
“If this is not done properly, the roster of work that needs to be done prior to an event cannot be determined beforehand,” he says.
Gadebe says the electrical problem at the premises will be repaired as and when funds are made available to do so, however, they will use weed killer to get rid of the weed at the ringbal courts.
He says funds are used to maintain the facilities but they don’t have funds to maintain the clubs as they believe that is the responsibility of the clubs to raise funds for their daily activities.
“There is continuous maintenance of turf grass and grass cutting around the facilities on a weekly basis and the courts are being swept regularly,” he concludes.
