THE Makana Local Football Association (LFA) is under pressure to complete their round-robin league matches before the end of February deadline set by the South African Football Association. If the team does not finish in time, they will forfeit the opportunity to qualify for the Cacadu District league.
THE Makana Local Football Association (LFA) is under pressure to complete their round-robin league matches before the end of February deadline set by the South African Football Association. If the team does not finish in time, they will forfeit the opportunity to qualify for the Cacadu District league.
Thandazile Madinda, LFA secretary said the league is struggling to complete the required amount of matches because of a lack of facilities at JD Dlepu Stadium.
While matches were scheduled to be played on both stadium fields, players have only had access to field B while the municipality has been conducting maintenance procedures on field A. When Grocott’s Mail visited the site on Saturday, field A was covered in overgrown grass and weeds, while the field’s goal posts lay on the ground in pieces.
Field B is also in less than perfect condition with weeds and sandy patches causing problems for players. Madinda said it is difficult to understand why field A is still in disrepair because it has been closed for play for the past few months for maintenance.
“We are waiting for the municipality to sort this out for us. We are hoping to complete the matches as soon as possible,” he said. In response, Sindile Ncesi of the Parks Department says that the stadium is over used which makes it difficult to maintain.
“There’s not enough time for the field to recover,” he said. He also said that LFA is currently busy with catch up games and that they had requeste the use of JD Dlepu stadium, especially the A side of the field.
“When it’s supposed to be off-season people still use the stadium and the grass doesn’t get time to grow,” said Ncesi. According to Ncesi the LFA had chosen an alternative field in Extension 9 and Foley’s Ground in Tantyi which was inspected by the Parks Department.
