The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
THE Sports and Recreation Ministry is set to seek the control of sporting infrastructure to ensure it effectively serves the sector, the Minister, Makhosini Hlongwane has said.
Speaking during an interview at the Sports and Recreation Ministry stand at the ZITF on Friday, Hlongwane said lack of conceptual understanding of why the facilities were built by officials from the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing has forced them to initiate the process of requesting to take control of the facilities.
Hlongwane’s decision comes on the back of the disruption of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League programme after Local Government officials decided to temporarily close the National Sports Stadium (NSS) from any football activities.
The NSS is used by the five Harare based clubs — Black Rhinos, Caps United, Dynamos, Harare City and Yadah, following the closure of Rufaro, for renovations.
Local Government Ministry officials told PSL the facility would be closed for two weeks as it is scheduled to host Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s Christ Embassy crusade on 7 May. The PSL was forced to move some of the matches to Morris Depot.
Hlongwane said they will ask for joint or full custody of the stadia to ensure they serve the purpose they were built for instead of being used for non-sporting related activities at a time they were desperately needed by the sporting fraternity.
“We may have to ask for joint custody for these facilities or have the custody of the facilities placed under the Sports and Recreation Ministry and be administered through the Sport and Recreation Commission. I think there is a clear conceptual lack of understanding of why the facilities were built because for the NSS, which is supposed to be a multi-purpose sports facility can be rented out to a church at the expense of sporting and recreation activity is unacceptable. However, the Local Government (Ministry) is doing a good job in terms of maintaining the facilities and we don’t have a problem with that,” he said.
Hlongwane said Local Government officials need to understand that Government invested in the construction of those facilities for the benefit of sport.
He said as a ministry they will not tolerate any continued disruption of scheduled sport and recreation activities on account of the NSS being rented out to other activities that are not of a sporting nature.
“That facility is supposed to be at the service of the sector so they should take that very seriously, I am very unhappy with these developments. I had discussions with (Local Government) Minister (Saviour) Kasukuwere last (Thursday) night and he promised to engage his officials to ensure that the situation is corrected,” Hlongwane said, adding he was unable to make timely interventions and he learnt of the matter in the Press after which he began making efforts to rectify the situation. He urged associations to quickly engage policy makers on critical matters that need their attention.
Hlongwane said he was saddened by the fact that the Premier League schedule could have been disrupted due to the fact that the NSS has been rented out to a church.
He said it was mind boggling why space that belongs to sport and recreation is rented out to churches at the expense of sporting activity.
Hlongwane said the PSL was the elite football league in the country and to have it disrupted to accommodate church activities was despicable considering NSS is the only stadium at the disposal of the top flight league in Harare at the moment.
A majority of the public sporting infrastructure in the country is in the hands of local authorities who have been criticised for charging uneconomic rates for football teams and turning the stadiums into a money generating venture instead of being affordable to clubs.
