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People’s Post
FACTRETON
‘Fix up our field’ KAYLYNNE BANTOM KAYLYNNE.BANTOM@MEDIA24.COM
A
Factreton resident says thousands of litres of clean water is being wasted and says calls to the City to fix the sprinkler pipe are falling on deaf ears. Hilton Williams says the Dapper Road sports field has been standing neglected for several years now. According to the resident, there are several underground sprinklers on the field, which is adjacent to Factreton Primary School. Years ago, he noticed that one of the sprinkler pipes was broken, and as a result has caused thousands of litres of fresh, clean water to go to waste. “I think the pipe might be broken, that is what is causing the water to flow. We as residents feel that this is an unnecessary wastage of clean water. We have people here in informal settlements who do not have access to water and here the City is letting water go to waste,” explains Williams. He says he made it his duty to contact the City in November last year, alerting them to the issue. He received a reference number for his query. When People’s Post visited the site on Thursday 25 February, the City still had not fixed the pipe. According to Williams the field used to be in a good condition and regular soccer games took place there. “We had soccer poles and netball poles up on the tarred pitch for our children to play. But because the field is not fenced it was vandalised. There are no soccer poles left. The grass is not even green anymore, it’s just being neglected.” Williams says he coaches a group of about 40 community children to play soccer. He explains that because
Hilton Williams points out that the grass used to be green and that the soccer poles have been stolen. PHOTO: KAYLYNNE BANTOM
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of the water pipe leakage and the fear that the children might injure themselves they now have to walk to a field based in 14th Avenue, which he says is a notable distance away. According to Williams soccer practise takes place every Tuesday and Thursday for one hour. “We do this mainly to keep our young people off the streets. But if the field is not safe for our kids, that defeats the purpose. The whole area around the broken pipe is wet and the ground is moist there.” Karriem Albertyn, a resident who has been living opposite the field for more than 60 years, says it’s sad how neglected the field is. “This soccer field used to be very neat and we used to have games here often. I too have complained to the City about that water leak, but nothing happens.” According to Albertyn he used to be responsible for turning the sprinklers on and off daily. Albertyn is calling for the field to be fenced and maintained regularly like before. Leslie Swartz, chair of the Kensington Factreton Residents and Ratepayers Association (KFRRA), says: “I am quite horrified that such a vital, life-sustaining resource is being wasted and more particularly that residents living in the 18th Ave informal settlement could make better use of this wastage.” He continues: “A right to an essential resource such as clean water – whether a homeowner, backyard dweller or living in the informal settlement – is beautifully entrenched in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the RSA.” Numerous attempts to get the City of Cape Town to respond drew blank. While the City acknowledged receipt of People’s Post query regarding the matter, they still had not responded at the time of going to print.