Alex Safe hub will promote social upliftment
ALEXANDRA – The facility aims to create a resilient, liveable, and sustainable urban environment, said MMC for Development Planning, Cllr Thapelo Amad.
The Alex Safe Hub, intended to create a viable and attractive option for young people to get involved in football and a range of life skills programmes, is 75 per cent complete.
The Johannesburg Development Agency has been undertaking the construction of the safe hub – a space where a transversal youth development intervention, using football as its base, occurs.
Located in Ward 91, the project is a partnership between the City and South African Football Association Development Agency and involves the upgrade of an existing soccer facility, the provision of floodlights, and the addition of a youth centre hub, with indoor and outdoor seating.
According to a statement from the City, the safe hub will function as a multipurpose facility where various activities will take place, including educational, health and enterprise development facilitation, to provide a viable and attractive alternative for young people to get involved in positive activities.
The objective of the safe hub is to offer opportunities to young people through football development and to assist in building football talent development structures in Alexandra. The project seeks to:
- Improve the functionality of the various aspects of social services
- Produce a safe working environment for employees
- Create a visibly improved social welfare and community facility
- Support local economic development
- Encourage further investment and upgrading in the area
- Promote improved social cohesion.
The 40-seater information technology and communication youth centre facility will function as a learning and enterprise centre, which will include office space, training, eLearning, computer counselling, workshop rooms, a youth café and bathroom/changing facilities.
The facility, which is being built at what used to be Ground #1, will be equipped with an artificial football pitch and solar-powered floodlights and security, the statement said.
ALSO READ: Five tips to stay on the safe side of the net
“The City has facilitated the provision of the land on which the hub is located. The safe hub aligns with the City’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040 which aims at creating a resilient, liveable, and sustainable urban environment that is underpinned by smart infrastructure, supportive of a low carbon economy,” said Amad.
“This facility will offer opportunities to young people through football development and will go a long way in assisting the development of football talent development structures in Alexandra.”
In response to an Alex News inquiry on whether the current work will include the extension of the two pitches to meet the requirements of Fifa, City spokesperson Dudu Lushaba confirmed that part of the current construction scope of works at the Alex safe-hub includes the extension of the football turf to be in line with Fifa and Safa’s required standards.
ALSO READ: Safe Hub pitch to be expanded
