Durban - Casual joggers and walkers in Chatsworth have had free access to their municipal-owned stadium, unlike other Durbanites who have had to buy permits for this.
However, they will not remain off the hook for much longer.
The city has given them until next month before they will be treated like everyone else.
This is according to community members who met yesterday at the Nelson Mandela Youth Centre to discuss the way forward following the appearance of a poster, at Chatsworth Stadium, advising them to have permits from Monday.
The requirement for the public to have a R180 permit to use municipal stadiums is standard practice across the eThekwini Municipality. However, it has not been implemented in Chatsworth.
“We hope to be meeting (the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department of) the municipality on Tuesday,” Devan Pillay, chairperson of the Naidu-Makhaye Sports Confederation told The Independent on Saturday.
He attended Friday’s community meeting along with ANC MPL Maggie Govender, herself a walker, Clive Pillay, programme co-ordinator at the centre and confederation executive member Ronnie Govender.
“At the meeting next week we shall look at how not to create panic,” said Devan Pillay.
“We need to get people to understand that there is a policy and, obviously, to have further negotiations on the proper use of the stadium.”
Govender added that in terms of policy, pensioners and young children would enjoy free access.
She said it would be important for authorities to be able to track who used the facilities.
“There have been break-ins during events and the vandalism of toilets. And, obviously, the stadium costs money (to run).”
She said she found it encouraging that a notice at Chatsworth Stadium advising people to apply for permits had been removed “and moved to a date in February”, adding that the issue was “clearly something we can talk about” to resolve.
Community members said clubs had always paid for permits and that the issue now related to people using the stadium as individuals.