FOR Refilwe Malatjie, the Thakgalane Sports Complex project in Sekgosese, in Limpopo, was meant to bring joy for her five children and the community as a whole.
The 1 200-seater project in Modjadjiskloof was meant to serve the village and surrounding areas during the holiday but it its completion date has remained in limbo.
The stadium, which was ordered by the Greater Letaba Municipality at an initial cost of R13 million in 2016, to be completed in 2018, came under scrutiny after the community discovered that the cost had ballooned to R45m.
Municipal mayor Dagma Mamanyowa unveiled the incomplete stadium last month, leaving scores of residents in the area in shock.
Malatjie, speaking to the Sunday Independent, said the community had hoped that sports tournaments would be held at the stadium for their children during the holiday period, but to no avail.
“They (the municipality) have been promising this (stadium) for years. When they started we were happy that our children would be able to have a place to be off the streets.
“Instead of us enjoying Christmas we are going to the municipality to find answers as to how a stadium that was supposed to benefit us was wasted.”
The public outcry prompted a Limpopo non-profit organisation, the Conty Lebepe Foundation, to write a letter to the municipality, calling for a probe into the matter.
The letter, seen by the Sunday Independent, reads in part: “With our primarily investigations after the announcement of the chairperson Mrs Tlou Moabelo that we should embark on, we have found that the initial budget for this project in 2016/18 financial year was R13.3m as per the documents in our possession.
”Our NPO needs to understand the figures and financial breakdown of this R45m from the R13.3m originally budgeted for.”
The municipality disputed allegations of misappropriated public funds for the construction of the sports complex, with spokesperson Lovers Maenetja saying the municipality “was observing false claims which accuse the municipality of mismanagement of funds on the construction of the complex by the municipality”.
“The Thakgalane Sports Complex was constructed using the municipal infrastructure grant as a multi-year project, meaning the complex was budgeted for in multiple years from 2018.
“The project, which cost R45m over a period of five years, was built and budgeted for each year until the 2022/23 financial year.”
He said the breakdown of the budget and expenditure in year one (2018/19) amounted to R6.4m and was budgeted to kick-start the project.
“In year two (2019/20) an amount of R12.2m was spent on the project, and in financial year three (2020/21) an amount of R10.5m was used on the project.
“The documents are readily available to assist residents understand the budget and the processes of expenditure.”
Maenetja urged those who accuse the municipality to familiarise themselves with such information before making any claims.
“We dismiss all allegations made against the municipality that it spent money that it did not budget for on the construction of the complex.
“Documents on the municipal website are readily available to assist residents in understanding the budgets, IDPs (integrated development plans), and the processes of expenditure,” she said.
However another resident, Lucas Seleka, said he did not believe that the municipality meant well for the community with the construction of the complex.
“I told them, and I said that things should not be this way. This is going to haunt us for the rest of our lives. We are never going to have a stadium where we are going to watch our children grow,” he said.
mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za