Sharks urge City to clean up

The Sharks management has pleaded with eThekwini Municipality to clean up the Kings Park precinct, warning that the area could embarrass Durban before international audiences expected in the next week.

“The Mercury” has seen a letter to the City from the Sharks management, drawing their attention to numerous problems around the stadium precinct.

It states that on July 13, the stadium will host an international rugby match between the Springboks and Ireland, adding that the game is sold out with 57 000 people expected to attend.

“At least 50% of the spectators are from abroad (especially one of our key tourism source markets of the UK) and other southern African cities. The game will also be broadcast to an international audience.”

The letter says the Sharks management had a meeting with the then mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, before his departure for Cape Town and the stadium management appealed to Kaunda for City units to address the request (to fix problems highlighted).

“Our city will be showcased to the world and the visitors that are descending on our shores. It is important that as a collective, we pull together to deliver a world-class Test match as the effective delivery of this match has a bearing on other international matches that can be brought to our city in the future.”

It says the precinct needs cleaning, and the grass needs to be cut, especially around the Rovers/Stables area.

It highlights problems that require urgent attention, including litter around the precinct, street lighting, broken fencing, grass cutting, safety and security concerns around the precinct, and calls for the deployment of safety ambassadors.

“Your assistance in notifying the various department heads will be greatly appreciated and will ensure that come Test match day, we put on the best display that showcases Durban to the world,” says the letter.

Novashni Chetty, general manager for operations and administration at the Sharks, said they had written to the City to say the stadium will be hosting an international Test match in the coming weeks and for assistance with the clean-up around the stadium.

“We are expecting an influx of tourists and visitors,” she said.

She said they had received a response from the City that it is engaging with various department heads to address the problems highlighted in the letter.

Tourism organisations said the rugby match was an ideal opportunity to showcase Durban as a tourist destination to an international audience.

Brett Tungay of the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa, said the cleanliness in the city had improved.

“The municipality is looking much better than it has been in a really long time, so we are not too concerned on that side. At this moment we are looking forward to a big game in Durban. The coming game is just what we need to give tourism international exposure,” he said.

The request from the Sharks management has stunned councillors, who said it was embarrassing that the City was being requested to do its job.

DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa described the situation as concerning.

“It’s a huge embarrassment that the City has to be asked to clean up just because there’s a rugby match coming.

“Cleanliness should be one of the basic services offered by the City to the ratepayers. This is why as the DA we are calling for tougher action against lazy senior managers.”

IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said this was an embarrassment to all residents.

“Cleaning must not be done on occasion when there are events, we are supposed to have a clean city. We must have a vision to see the whole of eThekwini clean because we have the capacity.

“The tourism unit (in the City) is supposed to push their sister department to clean the city to attract more tourism and metro police to ensure people are safe.

The departments must be able to call on each other to do their jobs,” said Nkosi.

ActionSA councillor Zwakele Mncwango said it was embarrassing that the City is being asked to do its job.

“This actually proves what ActionSA has been saying, that the City needs an administrator (to be placed under administration). This City has lost direction and requires someone who understands what needs to be done,” he said.

ANC exco leader Nkosenhle Madlala said the City has received a request and they are attending to the issue. He said the request came when the City already had plans to address the issue of the stadium precinct.

Madlala said the city is hosting the Durban July and the stadium precinct was already part of the areas the City is attending to in terms of service delivery.

The Mercury