The City of Johannesburg Sport and Recreation together with Betway officially opened the refurbished multipurpose courts at No 2 Grounds in Orlando East, Soweto. Phase one of the project included the rehabilitation of the tennis courts x2, netball courts, 5 a-side court, or additional netball/ basketball/ multipurpose courts at an estimation cost of R2.4 million.
Cllr Bongani Dlamini, on behalf Orlando Ward Councillors said: “We are happy to see the completion of phase one. It has been a long journey, and finally we are able to see what we committed to deliver on behalf of the community of Orlando.
“This long-awaited sport development project has not been an easy task. At the end, the Orlando community became the biggest winners, and we welcome this development. This facility is going to assist young people who will grow in sport and join professional teams,” said Cllr Dlamini.
“We are looking forward to the phase 2 of the project and to the community of Orlando and surrounding communities coming in numbers to use the courts.”
In emphasizing the importance of partnership, the Executive Director for Community Development in the City of Johannesburg, Vincent Campbell said: “Few months ago when I signed this partnership agreement, I did not foresee that today I will be sitting here looking at these newly refurbished courts. This is absolute marvel for me. This shows that collaborating with partners produces satisfactory results.”
“This facility is a catalyst, a means to an end, to ensure that resources are mobilised to drive sport development for the benefit of the community,” said Campbell.
Among those who came to grace the occasion were sport personality legends, the likes of Lucas “Rhoo” Radebe, the former captain of Bafana Bafana and the South African National Under-17 women’s soccer team coach Simphiwe Dludlu.
Radebe said: “What I see in front of me is fantastic and beautiful. I so wish we could build more sport facilities in townships. I am also glad that the community will enjoy this
wonderful facility which is in their backyard. It will be a magnet and attract most people to plough back and nurturing talent in Orlando.”
Coach Dludlu said: “This project is bringing a dream to reality. It is a safe space where parents will know where children are, a place where young ones will grow knowing how to play in fields of international standards. This will surely unlock more talent and fast track development.”
This is a true example of the City of Johannesburg being a business-friendly city, where business partners are able to team up with the city to advance service delivery.
30/08/2022