Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
City spends R2,6 million on upgrades to the Imizamo Yethu sports
complex
Note to editors: this is an extract from the speech delivered by Mayor De Lille
at the opening of the newly upgraded Imizamo Yethu sports complex today.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all here today to the culmination
of yet another successful City of Cape Town project to benefit the
community.
Our administration is committed to a programme of redress, aimed at
addressing the inequalities and imbalances of the past.
As such, we have prioritised the provision of basic services to communities,
but we also recognise the need for recreational spaces and amenities within
our communities.
We are dedicated to creating a caring, inclusive city for all our residents.
Today we are therefore proud to launch the recently upgraded sports
complex here in Imizamo Yethu.
The upgrades, totalling R2,6 million, include the construction of a new club
house, changing rooms, showers and ablution facilities, a first-aid room,
kitchen and communal space.
We believe that sport has a unique ability to unite people, as well as
providing them with an opportunity to develop new skills.
Sports facilities such as this are therefore vital to encourage development
and training in sport.
In a city such as ours, grappling with the devastating effects of substance
abuse, the football field is often also the safest place for many young people
to avoid the lure of drugs.
We are therefore pleased to provide facilities that enable emerging young
footballers to develop their skills and make healthy lifestyle choices.
Since its opening in 2012, the Imizamo Yethu pitch has been home to many
tournaments which focus on developing our young soccer players, with three
South African Football Association Cape Town junior tournaments and other
youth tournaments taking place.
The pitch has also been used for weekly developmental programmes for
children to introduce them to the sport and develop young talent, while local
schools utilise the facility for mid-week soccer games.
The City has a total of 26 synthetic pitches across the metro in areas such as
Langa, Mitchells Plain, Ocean View, Bishop Lavis, Grassy Park and Gugulethu.
These amenities represent a combined investment of R40 million into these
areas, and have been welcomed by communities which for years
experienced under-investment and lack of development.
In 2012, we opened the first of our synthetic pitches in Imizamo Yethu, along
with one in Hangberg. R10 million was spent on the construction of these two
facilities, which are compliant with FIFA regulations.
It is my hope that these world-class grounds will breed a new generation of
sports stars as they hone their skills, and perhaps one day represent their
country on the playing field.
As the City of Cape Town, we will continue to do all we can to bring about
progress and development to the communities we serve.
I hope the residents of Imizamo Yethu enjoy this sports complex and take
pride in it. I would like to ask that they share with us the responsibility to care
for it so that it can be used and enjoyed by generations still to come.
In closing, I wish to thank all the City staff who worked on this project, the
facilities management committee, and all other stakeholders who made this
possible.
By working to build an inclusive city for all we will make progress possible,
together.