MunicipalNews

Bob van Reenen slowly but surely being revived

The community all pulled together recently to bring one of the Mogale City's treasured assets back to life.

The Mogale City community recently showed how they could work together when more than 200 people showed up to help clean the dilapidated Bob van Reenen Stadium.

One of the first things that Executive Mayor Tyrone Gray put in place was the Tshepang Beke Le Beke clean-up campaign. Every month they clean up a part of our beautiful Mogale City.

Karabo Yumba, Joseph Tsholetsane en Karabo Mosethlhi put in all the effort to help.

In December they focused on parts of the CBD and in January they made the stadium one of their projects. This clean-up was facilitated by AfriForum Krugersdorp and on January 8 and 9, AfriForum, the municipality and community members got to work.

We are glad that the community came together. Not only political parties were involved, but the elderly, parents, children and friends,” said Martin Lombard, chairperson of AfriForum Krugersdorp.

They had their work cut out for them and on Saturday the teams cut the grass, removed overgrown reeds and cleaned up the track. On Sunday they removed all the rubbish.

This projects also formed part of Councillor Mark Trump’s plans to upgrade his ward. He told the News that the clean-up would be an ongoing operation facilitated by AfriForum, and anyone who is interested in helping to revitalise the community is welcome to participate. The question is, what will happen after the stadium has been cleaned up? Will it just be left again?

Lienke Laing helping to rake the grass.

Mayor Gray explained that an item will be submitted to council to approve a public private partnership. This means that the municipality may appoint a private entity to manage the stadium. He added that he would be receiving monthly reports to ensure that it is managed properly.

“We want it to be a recreation centre for the whole community to use,” he added.

Lerato Baloi came to enjoy the day and help out.

There are already plans in place to redo the track and put up the necessary lighting at Bob van Reenen. Mark said it was important to remember that the Bob van Reenen Stadium was once an International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF) approved stadium and one of the top five stadiums for high-altitude training. Martin said this project was two years in the making and the stadium had been abandoned for more than ten years.

“By restoring this stadium we can bolster tourism and the local economy again,” Mark said.

Jean Kotze helping to clean up Bob van Reenen.

The Bob van Reenen Stadium is not the only facility that the municipality has their sights set on, and Mayor Gray explained that they plan on taking a look at restoring many of the facilities in Mogale City that have been forgotten.

Another clean-up will be taking place this weekend.

Venessa Peasant enjoying a refreshing drink while working hard.
Azalea Hood lending a helping hand.
Mauritz Coetzee pulling out weeds.
Frans Hutchons en Bongi Kubheka working together to help clean up.
Aloysha Jooste putting her back into it.
Brandon van Aswegen.
Ruan Sinden (Mr Krugersdorp finalist), Janine Pretorius (Mrs Africa) and Liam van Vuuren (Mr Krugersdorp finalist) also helped.
Siya Musi working hard.
Rynhart Laing showing you are never too young to lend a helping hand.

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Clinton Botha

For more than 4 and a half years, Clinton Botha was a journalist at Roodepoort Record. His articles were regularly published in the Northside Chronicle now known as the Roodepoort Northsider. Clinton is also the editor of Randfontein Herald since July 2020. As a sports fanatic he wormed his way into various "beats - as the media would know it - and admits openly that his big love always have something to do with a scoreboard, crowds and usually a ball that hops.
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