Leaders and residents want answers on the failed R3 million sports facility and the rising shack community replacing it.
This should have been the “field of dreams” for young people and adults in Khutsong township near Carletonville – but the Merafong municipality’s failure to complete a sports centre has seen the earmarked area targeted by land invaders.
They are erecting shacks where there should have been soccer, rugby and cricket pitches, and basketball and netball courts.
It is not clear how much money has been wasted on the abandoned project since there is no budget information after the 2012-13 financial year, nor any information about how the R3 million allocated in that year has been spent.
12 years since sports field was abandoned
It is about 12 years since the project to build the Khutsong sports fields was abandoned.
When The Citizen visited the area this week, there were several people preparing to erect housing structures, while boys were playing soccer next to what was supposed to be a soccer pitch.
Vusi Cele, a community leader responsible for the allocation of the plots, said so far more than 300 people had invaded the area and were building shacks.
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“Yes, it is true that we are taking this land because the municipality failed to make use of it, while we don’t have houses.
“Officials from the municipality’s human settlements unit came to talk to us and instructed us to immediately stop what we are doing, but we refused.
“They said they were going to arrest us if we continued. They promised to give us 100 houses, while we are 304.
100 houses promised but 304 needed
“We know for a fact that they are telling lies because the houses are for people who are on the low-cost housing waiting list. We are not going to leave here; we are ready to fight.”
Otsile Gaonnwe, a Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader in Merafong municipality, has called on the authorities to investigate why the municipality abandoned the project and what happened to the R3.2 million allocated for it.
Gaonnwe said the project started in 2012 and was supposed to be completed at the end of 2013, but the constructor only built a changing room and an RDP-sized house that was supposed to be used by the security officer looking after the construction site.
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“It is a painful thing to know that so much money was allocated to build the much-needed facility, but the project has been abandoned and as the community, we don’t know why,” Gaonnwe said.
“As a leader of PA in the municipality, I tried in vain to compel the municipality to tell us what happened to the money. We cannot afford to lose so much money.”
He said the municipality and the main contractor should explain to the public why the much-needed facility has not been built.
Municipality and contractor should explain to public why facility hasn’t been built
He said his party contacted the ward councillor and the municipality, but they did not get straight answers.
“As I am talking to you, there are children playing soccer in a dusty field when money was allocated to build a sports field.
“Soon after the project stopped, criminals vandalised the change rooms that were built and stole the materials.
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“We would be happy if the Special Investigating Unit investigated this and the other abandoned projects within the municipality because there are so many.
“I hope that if the media publishes the story, maybe the provincial government will intervene.”
Daniele Maga, senior member of the Merafong Business Forum, said the matter needed to be investigated to establish how the tender was awarded for the main contract and what happened to the project and the money.
Matter needed to be investigated
Maga said by law the chamber should be informed about projects happening in the area, but they were always being sidelined by the municipality.
“As the chamber, we don’t have information about many projects in the area and, in most cases, tenders are given to people from other provinces, excluding locals,” she said.
“If you look at the municipality, the majority of employees are from Eastern Cape and other provinces. I am not a tribalist, but I believe these people do not care about what is happening because their families are not here.
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“What is happening here is painful because the sports field was going to produce stars from our community and boost the local economy as teams from other provinces were going to visit us with their followers.
“There are people who are now invading and erecting shacks. We are calling on the municipality to allocate houses for the invaders and to finish the facility.
People now invading and erecting shacks
“I know there are about 4 000 RDP houses that have not been allocated so we suggest that they accommodate these people.”
Merafong municipality spokesperson Thabo Moloja did not respond to questions sent to him.