Welgedacht community gets new hall

The communities of Welgedacht, Payneville and Slovo Park, have a new meeting place after the Welgedacht community hall was officially opened on Thursday morning.

The hall comes after a three-year wait for the communities who initially petitioned for it in 2016.

One of the things the communities complained about was the lack of sporting facilities in the area.

What is now the hall had been taken over by vagrants, and after the metro evicted them, the department of sport, recreation and arts and culture thought it would be the perfect meeting spot for people in the community.

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“The renovations started in June and the plan was to give it back to the community, and they can use it for whatever they need.

“For now there is no charge to use the hall, but it is regulated for use by our bylaws

“The hall is just the beginning of what we hope to do with this space (which includes netball courts).

“We will do some profiling in the area to find out what sporting activities in the area, what their needs are in terms of sports and recreation, and find out what the community wants, instead of us just planning for them because if we do that, they won’t take ownership of the place,” says Matshidiso Mohlabane, the divisional head: sport, recreation and arts and culture.

Mohlabane says they hope to cater for all groups in the community.

Community leader Kutlwano Strawberry Ngema says as the community they are very happy to have the hall, and are grateful to the municipality.

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“The hall can now be used to host activities for children in the area.

“We can now have indoor sports for our children such as karate and aerobics which we have already started using the hall for,” says Ngema.

Alderman Dean Stone was also impressed by what he saw, and says the people of Welgedacht, Slovo and Payneville really needed the hall as they have no communal meeting place.