Chris Gilili|Published
Raw sewage is spilling onto the former soccer pitch at Khayelitsha’s Football for Hope Centre, while a blocked, overflowing drain and a heavy stench have left residents calling for the City of Cape Town to find a permanent solution.
The facility in Harare, Khayelitsha, was opened as a legacy project linked to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Once a thriving youth development hub, the centre is now badly dilapidated and has fallen into disrepair.
When IOL visited the area on Tuesday, sewage was seeping into what was once the soccer pitch.
Sewage damages football pitch
The NGO Grassroot Soccer was appointed to manage the Khayelitsha centre, which was established through efforts involving Grassroot Soccer, the Football for Hope movement and the Khayelitsha Development Forum.
The centre was intended to be a safe, youth-friendly hub where young people and their communities could develop and amplify their voices.
Managing director of Grassroot Soccer South Africa, Ntiyiso Mahumani, said the organisation handed the facility over to the City of Cape Town around 2022.
“Due to operational challenges we were experiencing in Khayelitsha, we had to shut down our office there. We handed over the Football for Hope Centre to the City of Cape Town. When we handed over the place, the office structure was still intact, but the five-a-side soccer pitch was already damaged by sewage. There was a sewer line running just next to the pitch. Once that was established it became a serious problem,” said Mahumani.
He said Grassroot Soccer had run youth development programmes at the facility since 2010, working with young people from Harare and other parts of Khayelitsha.
Residents call for permanent solution
Yanga Mjingwana, a community leader and ANC ward 98 councillor candidate, said the City needed to drain the sewage daily if it could not find a permanent solution.
“It has become a serious problem to be honest. People around here have been saying they cannot even open their houses due to the smell coming out of this blocked drain. It is very sad, because this was once a thriving soccer facility which benefited the people of Khayelitsha. The city needs to solve this problem,” said Mjingwana.
ANC ward 89 councillor Anele Gabuza said the City had failed in its responsibility to look after the Football for Hope Centre.
“Sewage has severely damaged that whole area. The City of Cape Town simply doesn't care, as they were supposed to manage that facility together with the Mayoral Urban Regeneration Programme (MURP). The centre has been neglected for many years now. I have raised the problem of the overflowing drain a number of times with the City but they are not interested in resolving it. The issue of blocked drains is a problem throughout Khayelitsha. When we raise these problems, the City says people must move away from the sewage lines, but they don’t want to avail land for them to build,” said Gabuza.
The City of Cape Town said it would respond to questions sent by IOL Media. Its comment will be added once available.