Community halls too costly?
Residents say it is almost impossible for them to use community halls in their communities as these are too expensive to hire.
POLOKWANE – Residents say it is almost impossible for them to use community halls in their communities as these are too expensive to hire.
The Westenburg and Nirvana halls cost R6 031 to hire, which includes 30 tables and 600 chairs, while the Jack Botes hall costs R7 074, which includes 40 tables and 1 000 chairs.
“I don’t remember the last time there was a local function at the Westenburg hall. There used to be beauty contests, youth concerts and other community events held at the hall, but now people just can’t afford it,” a Westenburg resident says.
Another Westenburg resident, Annestine Louw (22) says she misses annual youth concerts which used to be held at the Westenburg hall.
“I remember how much fun it was. Young people from different churches in the community performed at the concert and there were young people from places like Middelburg, Mara and surrounding areas who also participated. And the community supported the concert religiously, because the tickets were always sold out and the hall packed with people standing on the side because there were no more open chairs,” Louw explains.
Another resident says churches used the hall for fundraisers, but now they can’t as the budget will be spent entirely if they rented these.
She says the community facility is supposed to be for the community’s benefit, but only government benefits from it.
“Locals don’t use the hall anymore. The Westenburg hall is being used for government events like meetings or commemoration celebrations. Pre-school graduations are held at the high school and churches use the primary school for their concerts or other fundraising events,” the resident explains.
Matshidiso Mothapo, municipal spokesperson says the council has considered a number of factors in determining its tariff structure.
These may include benchmarking with other municipalities of similar size and capacity and also consider socio-economic factors of the area of operation, maintenance costs and other factors as guided and within the parameters of the Property Rates Act and other legislation, Mothapo explained.
“The tariffs are subject to public scrutiny and input before a budget can be adopted by council. It is therefore advisable to members of the public to always give input during budget consultations in order to influence the tariffs,” he says.
According to Mothapo, tarrifs are used for maintenance and general upkeep of the facilities and to improve the services provided.
