A recent DA oversight to KwaMsane has revealed a multi-million Rand high-performance facility, constructed five years ago by the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Sport and Recreation, which remains closed to the community.
The visit comes after local sports clubs complained that they were not allowed access to the facility.
The DA’s oversight has revealed a fully air-conditioned gymnasium filled with brand-new, state-of-the-art equipment (view here, here, here and here) that has yet to be used by a single person.
Clearly, there are more questions than answers and the DA has today written to provincial Sport and Recreation MEC, Amanda Bani-Mapena, for answers on the following:
· When was the gym completed?
· How much did the Department spend on this facility and;
· Why is this fully-equipped gym unused and closed to the community and sporting federations.
The MEC needs to come clean on why this valuable facility remains closed after five long years. It is inconceivable that it is off limits and cannot be allowed to become yet another white elephant in our province.
This is not the first time that the DA has uncovered a facility, built for a community, that they are not allowed to use. In another instance, we were alerted to a library in rural KZN where the local ANC councillor had taken the keys away, barring residents’ access.
It is increasingly clear that this ANC-run government does not care about the people of our province. The DA will continue to play its role as KZN’s only effective opposition and will hold the ANC accountable.