Eldorado Park’s Pools and Sports Fields Are a Mess

• Eldorado Park’s stadiums, soccer fields, and public pools have been badly vandalised and neglected.
• Residents say this is one reason for the high crime rate and gangsterism.
• GroundUp found buildings were dilapidated and vandalised, with homeless people living in one of the abandoned buildings.

The Eldorado Park Stadium in Johannesburg was built to host events for about 12,000 people. Rugby, soccer, hockey and tennis clubs, and the South African Football Association (SAFA) used it. But like other sports facilities in the area, it has fallen into disrepair, and fencing and equipment have been stripped.

Residents say they used to serve as a training ground for Jomo Sono Football Club, which scouted for talent among youth in Eldorado Park.

But the tennis and hockey courts haven’t been used for years. SAFA has stopped using the stadium. The buildings have been vandalised and stripped. The toilets don’t work and there is no running water.

When residents took GroundUp through the stadium, there were homeless people living in one of the stripped buildings. Litter and rubble were strewn everywhere. The single security guard is not enough to protect the grounds, residents say.

Resident Rupert Hollander said they’ve raised the issue with the City of Johannesburg but have not been listened to. “No one wants to take responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of facilities,” he said.

Community members are now up in arms, claiming that the City has been pouring resources into communities like nearby Soweto, while their stadiums, soccer fields, and swimming pools go to ruin.

They say there would be much less crime in Eldorado Park if young people had sports facilities to use.

According to the 2011 Census, about 65,000 people lived in Eldorado Park. But this number has since grown.

Ward committee member Petunia Bailey said there was no accountability for the way the City allocated budgets. She said the government had been asked to investigate “because we have been left with a lot of unanswered questions for too long”.

An abandoned building at the Extension 6 soccer grounds is now used by criminals, say residents.

At the nearby Extension 6 soccer grounds, fencing has been stripped, and the grass is overgrown. Residents claim that the Extension 6 soccer grounds, with six fields, is one of the largest in the area. But major tournaments have not been held here for years. Some of the buildings no longer have water, including the women’s ablution blocks.

Owen Perry, of the Eldorado Football Association, said that he had appealed to the City’s Department of Sports and Recreation several times to upgrade the soccer fields. He also asked for sponsorship of sporting events. Perry said the place last received sponsorship from the Lottery years ago.

“We have a lot planned for this year, but we may not have the capacity to do it,” he said.

Ward councillor Juwairiya Smith said talks were underway for a budget to be allocated for a wall to be put around the field in the next financial year. But the City told GroundUp that there’s currently no allocated budget to replace the fencing.

Swimming pools

The Goud Street swimming pool was once a place where learners from nearby schools learned to swim, and families came to picnic on the lawn on hot summer days. Just four years ago, before the Covid lockdown, residents say the pool was still a hive of activity with galas and swim club training programmes. They say it was the only Olympic-sized pool in the area and national champion swimmers like Thabang Moeketsane trained there.

But thieves stripped the pool in 2021 and the property became a dump site.

The City’s Virgil James told GroundUp that this pool was subjected to repeated vandalism and theft. This led to its demolition for safety reasons. “Reconstruction is not currently budgeted,” said James.

“Our swimming pool produced world-class swimmers … We don’t know if our pool will ever be restored because we were told that it would cost millions of rands to do so,” said Petunia Appollis from the Eldorado Park Community Accountability Gatekeepers.

She suggested that one of the two remaining pools in the community should be converted to an indoor pool so it can be used throughout the year.

Sporting facilities in the area hold great historical significance but need “a total infrastructure overhaul,” Appollis said.

The Extension 9 public pool was closed apparently due to maintenance following complaints by residents about shoddy workmanship.

The two other pools are in Extension 9 and Extension 4, but residents say they are in poor condition in spite of recent upgrades. Because the two pools are often full, children go to swim in dirty rivers nearby, they say.

“Our pools are in a bad state and have been vandalised, yet nearby communities like Soweto get proper infrastructure upgrades. As the coloured community, we are being marginalised and taken for granted,” said resident Vincent Naidoo.

However, City spokesperson James said facilities in Eldorado Park are older than some of those in Soweto.

He blamed the state of Eldorado Park’s sports facilities on rampant vandalism and theft. He said the scale of the damage often exceeds the available budget for repairs and maintenance. Insurance claims for many incidents had been repudiated due to factors such as inadequate security and a lack of routine maintenance.

James added that there is an approved capital budget for maintenance work for the stadium and the Extension 9 swimming pool. When this reporter visited the pool on Wednesday, a note at the entrance said it had been closed for maintenance.

James called on the community to work with the City to protect facilities.

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