GOOD Statement by Keagen Gertse, GOOD Drakenstein Councillor & Caucus Chair:
The Weltevrede Sportsfield in Van Wyksvlei, Ward 7 of Drakenstein Municipality, has the potential to bring together a vulnerable community plagued by gangsterism, drug abuse, and social decay. For more than a decade, this once-proud sporting facility has become a site of daily violence, vandalism, and neglect. Yet Drakenstein has the power, resources, and mandate to change this.
The foremost duty of any local government is service delivery, maintaining, managing, and developing community infrastructure that meets the needs of its residents. The Weltevrede Sportsfield remains an important facility for the people of Wellington, and Van Wyksvlei in particular. It has the potential to produce future sportsmen and women, serve as a social and environmental hub, and offer space for recreation, art, and cultural engagement, all of which are desperately needed in a gang-affected community.
However, instead of taking responsibility, Drakenstein has continuously blamed the community for the facility’s deterioration. Official reports from the Community Services Portfolio cite “continuous vandalism” as the reason for its decay, a clear admission of failure by both political and administrative leadership. This indicates that no effective plan has been developed or implemented to restore the facility so it can once again serve as a cornerstone of social and community development.
GOOD is also deeply concerned by admissions made in the Portfolio Committee that parts of the land may be rezoned for housing. While Drakenstein faces a significant housing backlog, with approximately 21,817 applicants on the waiting list, converting vital community assets into residential land is short-sighted and counterproductive!
Sports and recreation facilities should not be sacrificed to compensate for the municipality’s housing challenges. Housing, sports, and recreation are not competing priorities. As much as the government must provide decent housing, it must also ensure residents have access to spaces that promote health, recreation, and community well-being. Unfortunately, these needs are often neglected in poorer and middle-income areas.
In many communities, sports and recreation are proven tools for crime prevention and youth development, offering discipline, structure, and opportunity to those most at risk. Stripping these spaces away removes one of the few positive alternatives to crime and addiction.
GOOD calls on Drakenstein Municipality to:
- Develop and implement a comprehensive safety and security plan for the Weltevrede Sportsfield; and
- Draft a turnaround and investment strategy to transform the facility into a functional sporting and community complex.
Such a plan should include support for local NGOs already working in the area, ensuring they have the infrastructure needed to help rebuild Van Wyksvlei and greater Wellington into a safer, more united community.
*The GOOD Party is a founding member of UNITE FOR CHANGE.
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