This week, the discussion on Up4Debate is prompted by the announcement of plans for the development of a golf course in Belmont Valley outside Grahamstown. We ask: What sports and recreational facilities do people in our town really want? Do they have access to such facilities? And what do we need to do to ensure that they do? We invited people who can speak from experience about the challenges posed by these questions: Jeff Budaza, Makana Municipality's Sports and Recreation Officer; Mark Hazell, council member of the Institute of Environmental and Recreation Management and Mzwandile Matebese, founder and manager of the Joza Karate Club. Joy Owen from the Department of Anthropology also joined the discussion.
Jeff: "The private sector have a role to play in sport development. But the
problem now is that you have to do it though Makana. Will anyone trust
Makana?"
Mzwandile: "I'm just surviving. Especially now that the club is growing up
and there are lots of kids coming in and not only from Joza, from Vukani,
and Extension 6 on the other side of town so they have to travel or walk
from those long distances. Without funding it's not easy."
Mark: "I think that there are multiple visions and the problem about
multiple visions is that you lose focus".
Joy: "We can talk about planning and we can talk about recreation and we can
ignore that this is a municipality that is in trouble and it now has to
start making decisions around what will be prioritised and what will not."
