According to answers supplied by the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality during the last council meeting, “There’s major work that needs to be done at the Kees Taljaard sports complex, but there’s no money to do the work.”
According to the municipality, it has been utilising the operational budget for the upkeep of Kees Taljaard Stadium, but it’s a shared budget with all the other municipal sporting grounds.
The Middelburg Observer’s Gerhard Rheeder reported the opex budget has been used for the past three years, with no specific allocations for maintenance and repairs for the stadium where sports clubs, like the rugby club, tennis club and bowls club, are rooted.
The stadium has not received any capital funding over the same period, resulting in ‘burdening delays’ while new problems pop up.
The opex budget only provides for the repairs and maintenance of critical issues such as plumbing, electricity, roof repairs and lock replacement, as well as matters deriving from theft and vandalism.
Shockingly, the opex budget combined over the three years amounted to a measly R2.5m, and caters for all sporting facilities within the municipality.
The municipality has now submitted a technical business plan to the Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation for funding to stop the rot before it spreads even further.
A few guards are on duty at other venues, but not at the Kees Taljaard Sports Complex. Cameras are now being looked into.
Due to the frequency and magnitude of thefts and vandalism, insurance payouts aren’t enough anymore.
“Damages and repairs can not be done in full,” the municipality said.
And also, shockingly, the municipality shifts the blame and said, “Clubs and the community must assist with interventions as part of their arrangements and contracts.”
Despite this, the stadium is still not viewed as a priority area critical to service delivery.
Due to the minimal fees in rent by sports clubs, the clubs and the public have a joint responsibility to protect municipal infrastructure.
The municipality acknowledges that sports clubs and most residents who book municipal facilities for personal use are not the ones responsible for the vandalism and thefts.
Clubs are not ‘on the hook’ for any repairs and maintenance, but there are several that sweep in front of their own doors with self-paid alarm systems, reaction units and other measures.
The municipality is on its knees, however, saying it needs funding and hence the appeal to the government.
What the technical plan entails, the municipality does not say.
Minor repairs and corrosion treatment have been done at the stadium, but ‘major work’, in reference to the stadium’s structural assessment, needs to be done.
Another lie, “Grass cutting and regular grounds maintenance remain ongoing, funded by the operational budget.”
It’s clear that the budget is not sufficient to address the major issues.
Requests for the structural assessment report were not met.
Spokeswoman Lerato Kgomo said the report only deals with the pavilion’s structure and damage.
