State obliged to provide facilities delivered by gym

This article was triggered by the closure of the Mdantsane gymnasium, the Fitness Joint, and the question of whether the government should be involved in supporting what has been described as a private business.

Mdantsane is the country’s second- biggest township after Soweto. The are many similarities between the two townships with regards their contribution to the struggle for freedom and democracy, as well as high levels of political consciousness of people in these townships.

Both township communities endured serious suffering at the hands of the dangerous apartheid regime, to the extent that people were not only battered and arrested but some were killed.

It was in the schooling system that we were brought closer by the leadership of Cosas to the theoretical and ideological interpretation of our world, as the conditions of our families in our homes were no different to those at school.

Post liberation Mdantsane was and still is predominantly an area of the working class and poor. The relationship of this class to the rest of Buffalo City is one in which their labour power is sold to white monopoly capital, which by and large is located in the city centre, Wesbank and a few factories towards Scenery Park.

Capital has consolidated itself massively in a very strange way. Though the number of factories have reduced, new shopping malls have been built towards the airport, Hemingways and so on.

But Mdantsane, despite its immense contribution to liberation, has derived no serious facelift compared to Soweto.

We have of course, the Mdantsane Mall which is indeed a positive development, but which is not complemented by any other development around the Mdantsane area to help our people have the buying power that will sustain the lifespan of businesses in the mall.

Mdantsane people deserve more than a mall. Government, in particular the local sphere and what is called Buffalo City Development Agency, needs to rethink how to reconfigure the factory buildings in Fort Jackson and Dimbaza so that our design does not remain a worker dormitory but is inclusive of entrepreneurs.

Some entrepreneurs are self-sufficient but some are piloted and nurtured by government. Some emerge from the economic system and outlook of a government that does its work and is unapologetic about integrating Africans in particular into the economic mainstream.

Government should pay attention to where the real income generators are in Mdantsane and which are short- or long-term.

In Mdantsane we have teachers, nurses, municipal employees in the few district and satellite offices, but the majority of government departments are in the city and are now moving towards the Beacon Bay and Gonubie areas.

This means our people must spend much money on transport. Some then rent in town and end up getting into wrong lifestyles and relationships. This, by the way, is an important element contributing to killing the township.

We want better housing, roads and rail infrastructure, better schools, beautiful and nice business centres, proper sports fields and world-class training centres in Mdantsane. Whether or not government delivers on these directly or through private partnership, the main issue is the benefit for the community and the improved value chain for the local economy.

With regard to Fitness Joint, prior to it opening some of us had to walk 10km to see a pool and pay to use it. Khaya Majeke and Zola Dunywa may be guilty of conceiving the idea of a high-class fitness centre but such a centre is a necessity in our area and government has an obligation to provide facilities to our community for our in-school and out-of-school youth.

The gym is not just a private business located outside the framework of what government aught to be providing. The policy statement to bring back school sport was espoused in a resolution at the 2007 ANC Polokwane conference and in subsequent state of the nation addresses by the president.

What is stopping the Department of Sports and Education and the local municipality from enrolling pupils and young people of Mdantsane from different sports codes like boxing, swimming, rugby and soccer to use the biggest pool in East London to hone their fitness? Or from hiring a swimming teacher and also enabling other outstanding athletes to use the gym’s weights to improve their fitness levels and abilities? What is stopping these state institutions from signing a three-year deal renewable with the gym to subsidise young people?

This centre has helped different boxing stars reconnect the province to its former glorious legacy. Training methods to make boxers sharper have been sourced at the facility. Many international and world champion boxers were using the gym – Zolani and Makazole Tete, Vetyeka , Lwandile Sityatha, Macbute Sinyabi, Ali Funeka, Thabo Sonjica to name a few.

I'm sure other sporting codes, if asked, will for sure have a good story to tell about the relevance of this gym.

If the state institutions mentioned were to collaborate and subsidise the rental for swimming, boxing, rugby and soccer youth, it would be +/- R3.6-million over three years, as per the numbers given by Mr Jekwa for rental.

In making such an investment, the state will be guaranteed a role in producing world-class athletes and will contribute to cutting unemployment and crime.

The consequences of the gym’s closure are dire for the people of Mdantsane who must now pay more, not only for city gyms but for public transport or extra petrol.

There are different businesses owned by black people that were on the verge of closing in the past few years, but were saved by government and are now doing well. A model should be found to save this black-owned business.

When then-president Thabo Mbeki launched his administration’s eight urban renewal nodes, Mdantsane was among them. To date the township has not received a massive infrastructural facelift with sustainable jobs to create a viable local economy

Boxing remains one of the strongest trademarks of Mdantsane, the city and the province. It is known throughout as a boxing Mecca and this facility contributed to sustaining that pride

The services offered by the Fitness Joint were distinct and contributed to nation building and social cohesion.

The gym may, in form, be a private concept but, in content, is a public facility in private black hands which benefits Africans in general and Mdantsane residents in particular. This locates it in line with the priorities of government.

Let's fight for this facility, for it to remain a beacon of hope for those old mamas and tatas who were enjoying a healthy lifestyle, and for young men and women who had only to walk a short way to access equipment to get fit and healthy.

Ayanda Matiti is a boxing promoter and former ANC Youth League chairperson in the Eastern Cape.