Municipality refuses water for sport ground in Kellysville
KELLYSVILLE - Criminal charges have been laid against Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) due to its alleged lack of concern for basic human rights.
Children and young adults who enjoy playing soccer in Kellysville don’t seem to have this luxury.
TCLM reportedly removed the taps in the street that provided residents with water.
The Mashishing Civic Coalition, under the leadership of Pompies Ledwaba and George Viljoen (chairperson), has been advocating for the basic rights of residents for years. In 2019, it was brought to their attention that the tap at the Kellysville soccer grounds, among others, had allegedly been removed.
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This made it nearly impossible for sports events to take place as players did not have access to water. When Viljoen, a Democratic Alliance (DA) member, enquired about this, the municipality replied by asking who would be paying for the water.
Viljoen drafted a letter to TCLM about this issue on March 12 and handed it in at the municipal offices. The complaint has been ignored for months and that resulted in him opening a criminal case against Thaba Chweu at the Lydenburg SAPS on Tuesday November 20. The Kellysville soccer grounds barely have soccer nets and are being used by everyone in the community.
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“This is terribly unfair as the Mashakeng Stadium was refurbished to the amount of R9 million in 2009.
“It has public toilets, showers and infrastructure to make it convenient for sports and other community events. We see this as a violation of our constitutional right. We did not get a response from the municipality, only that it did not want to pay for the water,” said Viljoen.
