Ngqushwa municipality sets R1m aside to fix failed revamp of sports facility

Community members from Glenmore near Peddie have welcomed steps taken by Ngqushwa municipality to rectify their sports facility, two years after its disastrous “completion”.

The municipality issued a tender notice for contractors to bid for the refurbishment of the R3m sports facility in a recent edition of the Daily Dispatch.

The sports facility has not been used since 2015, when it was due for renovations scheduled to conclude in August 2016.

When the community went to use it after the renovations, it fell far short of their expectations and the tender requirements.

Resident Lindelwa Tyatya said they all welcomed the municipality’s involvement.

“We hope this time things will go according to plan,” Tyatya said. “The municipality has promised to work closely with the community and we are happy with this gesture.”

Ngqushwa municipality infrastructure development portfolio head Libele Kolisi told the Dispatch R1m had been set aside from the municipality’s coffers to rectify the sports facility.

“The process is currently out on tender. We will have briefing sessions before the end of this month,” Kolisi said.

“We want to work more closely with the community. We will inform them of any developments and opportunities that may arise,” he said.

Civil society organisation Afesis-Corplan, which compiled a report on the previous upgrades, commended the municipality for the tender advertisements in a statement issued by its executive director Nontando Ngamlana.

“We hope the municipality will follow due processes in appointing a credible, well-capacitated entity,” Ngamlana said.

“We are pleased that the people are aware of their rights, responsibilities and obligations as both partners with [the municipality] in the development of Glenmore, and as custodians of that sports field,” he said .

The closing date for the new tender is October 5.