Pretoria - Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has urged the community of Mamelodi to look after the multi-purpose sport court facility unveiled at the Stanza Bopape Secondary school.
Speaking at the unveiling of the court earlier today Mthethwa urged the school to not hog the court to themselves and their learners but to also avail it to the rest of the community of Mamelodi in order to assist in boasting sporting activities for the benefit of the youth.
The court offers learners the opportunity to participate in football, netball, basketball, volleyball and tennis all on one court.
Mthethwa said he was pleased by the public-private partnership with Nedbank given that the sports court had a lifespan of 20 years, a 15-year warranty and required very low maintenance.
Something he said would be very helpful given that the government had a poor record when it came to the management and maintenance of facilities as witnessed with the current state of the HM Pitje, and Odi Stadiums amongst others.
He said audits conducted had revealed that more than half the facilities erected with government funding were poorly managed and maintained with many even being vandalised.
“We can’t allow the dreams of our children to excel in sport to be sabotaged because the much-needed facilities are not well managed.”
“The truth of the matter is that today’s activism is directed to successfully tackling the issues of poverty and unemployment, substance abuse amongst youth, HIV/Aids, teenage pregnancy, obesity, personal health and development as well as economic freedom.”
Tlhopane Motsepe, Chairperson for Mamelodi Sundowns, said they chose the school as it performed extremely well in the 2020 Matric exams and received an 88% pass rate.
And as a token of appreciation from the football club, he said they would be handing over a signed T-shirt.
Pretoria News