Johannesburg - There was pushing and shoving inside the damp Number One rugby grounds in Orlando East on Thursday, with the DA and ANC-affiliated residents divided over plans to develop it.
For the past five years, the local government has planned to develop the grounds into a public sports facility, a mall-like plaza area for hawkers and a block of flats.
However, when contractors arrived on Thursday to establish the site for the first phase of construction, protesters blocked their way.
ANC ward councillor for Orlando East, Sechaba Khumalo, said some were armed with sjamboks, and although there was no violence, police were called to assist the contractors’ security to clear the site.
By about noon, two separate groups of people had formed on the field, accompanied by a few cops who were monitoring the situation.
The first group told The Star they had started a petition to stop the project. They said the ANC leadership had not properly consulted with the community about the plans to alter what they described as a heritage site.
Pinkie Moticoe said the field was a training ground for Orlando Pirates, and had played a significant role in developing soccer in the area.
Although there had been some consultation with the community, the meetings were an excuse for the local government to steamroller its idea to develop the field without listening to the needs of the community.
“A smaller field will not suffice. These flats they’ll build, (local residents) can’t afford the rental, so who is going to benefit?” she asked.
Others in the crowd insisted the project was a way for the ANC to canvass votes ahead of next year’s local elections, and that the opposing crowd supporting the initiative were not Orlando locals, but had been bused in from the Eastern Cape.
The other group surrounded Khumalo as he announced that the project was yet another way in which the area should be improved.
“We are determined to change Orlando to become a beautiful suburb. We are going to change the apartheid spatial planning to our own heart’s desire,” he told them.
Khumalo told The Star that the project made best use of the limited space in the area, and would not stop locals from using their sports grounds. He said those opposed to the project were part of a DA plan to prevent development, so that the ANC would be blamed for the lack of progress.
The DA’s regional chairman in Joburg, Khume Ramulifho, said his party had nothing to do with the protest. The DA would never prevent development, and residents should be consulted properly.
However, he said such projects often ended up as white elephants that were not maintained once constructed, and ultimately failed.
The Star