Municipality to clean park before cross-country event

The City of Ekurhuleni has confirmed they will take care of the Nomathamsanqa Matsolo Multipurpose Park, commonly known as Marivate Park, in Daveyton, before hosting the fourth cross-country league meeting of the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) on June 24.

The CoE spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, told the Benoni City Times they cut the grass inside the facility every month and will address the concerns about the state of the park on time in preparation for the event.

Residents close to the park, and some who use it for their daily walks, raised questions about the state of the facility.

The residents were worried the neglect of the facility was leading to vandalism, adding vagrants compromised their safety and that of their children who use the park for recreational activities. They accused these vagrants of using some of the shelters for wrongdoing.

When the City Times visited the park, we found it packed with children who busied themselves in the playing area, oblivious of the goings-on around them.

Although the grass around the park was cut, there were mountains of uncollected grass all around.

During the visit, we noticed beer bottles, syringes (likely used for nyaope), dagga blunts and hookah wrappings.

There is graffiti on some of the huts and guard shelters while some damaged playing equipment posed a threat to the children who use it.

In addition, there was overgrown grass and thick vegetation along the fence on Sigalo Street and piles of garbage that blocked the entrance on the same street.

“The City is aware of the cross-country booking at Marivate and will clean the park in preparation for the event.

“We cut the grass at the park once a month. The last grass-cutting cycle started on March 22 and wrapped up on 12 April,” Dlamini said.

He said some of the concerns would be addressed, but pleaded with the community to help fight illegal dumping.

“We continuously remove illegally dumped waste as and when there is a need. The rate at which people dump waste at the park requires more capacity than we currently have.

“The high mast light is out of order due to vandalism. There are security guards at the park during the day. Regarding the toilets, our real estate department is processing the request to fix them.”

The hosting club, East Athletic Club, is confident the municipality will address all the problems in the facility before June.

“The municipality will cut the grass and clear the park before the event. This will ensure there are no items that could be harmful to the athletes,” said the club’s Monde Maduna.

“The CGA will bring the components of disaster management, including medical personnel and security. The park will be enclosed and only paying spectators allowed inside,” Maduna added.

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