All hope gone for stadium

All that remains is for the rugby and soccer associations to give up hope and then Puma Stadium will be a husk of its former glory.

It has been a number of years since any maintenance or upgrading was done at the grounds of Puma Stadium, the forgotten sports hub of eMalahleni. An article featured in WITBANK NEWS roughly a month ago exposed the current state of the grounds to the public.

The abandoned hockey and cricket club house.

The stadium’s degradation was reported to the Emalahleni Municipality and yet no improvement can be seen, which is partly understandable seeing as the municipality is attempted to relieve all the other problems that plague our beautiful city, some of which include a lack of infrastructure, electricity problems, water leaks, breaks and shortages, refuse removal, and street conditions to name but a few.

But where did it all start?
Hope first faded with the hockey club, after numerous burglaries, the club could not sustain itself. This was followed by the ladies players opting to play elsewhere fearing for their safety at the hockey fields.

“We really battled and the municipality didn’t maintain anything, the club ran the expenses even though it was frequently burgled,” said Ms Tracey Flowers, former hockey club committee member.

She added that the hockey teams were eventually practicing with only a single light above their heads, and even when their lease ran out with the municipality, they struggled to renew it with the municipality and after no word decided to abandon it.

Water floods what used to be the tennis courts.

The tennis club was next to go as the condition of the tennis courts and surrounding grounds worsened with every week. The coaches sought greener pastures, now making use of the local school’s courts. The tennis club house fell prey to burglary and vandalism too, the copper piping was stripped from every faucet, every basin and every pipe outlet.

“It’s quite a bad sight if you have been involved there for as many years as I have, roughly 25 plus years. I believe it’s just a matter of the authorities not keeping it a priority on their list,” said Mr Charl Basson, former tennis coach at the stadium grounds.

He went on to say that sports and the grounds are an important part of the community namely participation and involvement, and without it there is an imbalance in the system.

“Its not just the facilities that are in shambles, it’s the whole city and it’s a sad sight it doesn’t give the people hope,” he said.

Coaldust Road Runners Clubhouse stood for a good 20 years until their Tuesday evening meetings were moved to Elkana, their runners also fearing for their safety at the stadium and the clubhouse like many other buildings in the area, turned into an empty shell of its former glory.

Mr Theo van Vuuren, acting Municipal Manager Emalahleni, was asked for comment but failed after two weeks to respond in time for press.

READ ALSO:
Years of degredation
Bye bye by laws