Neglected Limpopo stadium a ‘mess’

Outside of Sibasa in the Vhembe district stands Makwarela Stadium, one of the oldest sports facilities in Vhembe, with an estimated capacity of about 15,000 spectators. Although not in good condition, Makwarela is currently used by local schools and football teams for their respective sporting codes but it is not being maintained, becoming dilapidated with overgrown grass and unusable sanitation blocks.

In 2004, Limpopo Mirror reported that an amount of R1.4-million was spent on the refurbishment of Makwerela Stadium, which included the construction of combination courts, the building of a bulletproof ticket booth, offices, bathrooms, an ablution block, and first-aid rooms, and the upgrading of the main pavilion. But none of this was ever done.

Neglected for too long

“The current condition of the stadium is not conducive to be used for any sport code. The pitch is not in good condition, the stands are also not in a good state, the toilets are also not working. The stadium also does not have running water. Everything is just a mess,” says Justice Ramasimu.

Ramasimu is an amateur soccer player who frequently plays at the stadium with his friends. He cannot understand how a public facility can be neglected like that. “This facility does not qualify to be called a stadium. It deserves to be demolished and built from scratch. A few years back, they removed the artificial grass on the pitch and replaced it with some poor grass which they do not even maintain or water,” says Ramasimu.

Harbouring snakes

Ramasimu says that they have killed 2 snakes at the stadium on 2 occasions. “Those snakes came from the bushes inside of the stadium as the overgrown grass is never cut down, posing safety risks to everyone who comes to the stadium, either to participate in sports or as a spectator,” says Ramasimu.

Stephen Sirwali, the founder of Rotangana Foundation, an NGO which encourages youth to pursue education and to participate in sports, told Elitsha that it worries him that public sporting facilities in Vhembe are being neglected and left in a bad state. “Sports are one of the activities which we can use to take the youth away from drugs and alcohol. But how are we going to achieve that, when our government fails to maintain the very few facilities that we have in our communities? Our government is failing us in this regard,” says Sirwali.

Makwerela is not alone

Makwarela is not the only neglected facility in Vhembe. Less than 15 kilometres from Makwarela, a sports facility in Makhuvha has also been left neglected by the Thulamela Local Municipality.

Sirwali says that he is worried that none of the stadiums in Vhembe is in a good, usable condition. “If you go to Thohoyandou, Makhuvha, Tshifulanani and all other local stadiums in Vhembe, you will see that none of them is in good condition. They have all been neglected and no one is saying anything about their poor conditions. We are doomed as residents of Vhembe; something needs to be done urgently about all these facilities,” says Sirwali.

Thulamela Local Municipality spokesperson, Nndwamato Tshiila told Elitsha that they are aware of the challenges at Makwarela Stadium. “We are currently busy with bush clearing; however, the heavy rainfall has disturbed our plans and progress. Regarding the toilets, our technical team is currently working on fixing them. We are also experiencing water challenges due to low pressure from the boreholes on site, but we are actively working towards resolving the issue,” says Tshiila.