Kempton Park Ringball Club in ruins
A lack of maintenance by the City and a string of break-ins have ringball members worried about the club’s future
The new ringball season is around the corner but the future of Kempton Park Ring Ball Club looks dire.
An emergency meeting with Ekurhuleni ringball associations will be held on Monday to discuss the future of the club, following a string of break-ins over the holiday that left them with nearly nothing.
The ringball courts, located on Pienaar Avenue, belong to the City of Ekurhuleni.
“They took toilets, basins, chairs, tables, parts of the geyser, you name it,” chairperson of the club Ben Vermeulen told Express on Wednesday.
“They broke open the safe and even stole the batteries of the alarm system,” he added.
According to him, the incident could have been prevented if the clubhouse had electricity, but the power box was stolen last year.
The club’s woes do not end there. A burst pipe has been leaking water for at least four months and Vermeulen pays for external gardening services from his own pocket as people continue to dump refuse inside the grounds.
In 2017, a light pole fell over.
“Luckily, no one was injured but other poles also need replacing,” Vermeulen said.
“Who is going to take responsibility when someone gets hurts?”
Vermeulen added that the state of the ringball grounds is making it difficult to promote the sport in the community.
“We have a big problem on our hands, but our complaints fall on deaf ears.”
Ekurhuleni failed to comment but said on December 21 that they acknowledged the maintenance complaint.
Kempton Park SAPS has been asked for comment surrounding the break-ins and the possible arrest of suspects.
