The Tongaat Child and Family Welfare Society has been hit with an unexpected cost of over R240 000 to repair and prepare the local municipal grounds for their annual charity fair, despite already paying R128 000 in hire fees to the eThekwini Municipality.

The NGO claims the municipality had failed to maintain the venue, forcing volunteers to work around the clock to ensure the event proceeds from Thursday.

Clyde Pillay, secretary of the society, said the municipality had charged them R128 000 to hire the Outspan Grounds in Tongaat but that it had not been maintained.

He said they were scheduled to commence with the fair set-up on February 10, but when they conducted an inspection of the grounds, they realised they could not proceed with the current state of the grounds.

“The grass needed cutting and the existing cricket courts were covered in sand and water because there appeared to be a leak in the pipes. There was no fencing along the river that surrounds the ground and this would have compromised the safety of our children.

“The plumbing to the public toilets needed attention, the electricity to the floodlighting systems needed to be checked and there were heaps of sand at the entrance to the ground that needed to be cleared.”

He said the society’s employees and volunteers had to jump into action to fix the grounds.

The damaged ablution facilities at Outspan Grounds. Picture: Supplied

“We had to fix these things at the cost of the society. Sadly, the municipality had not maintained the grounds since the June 2024 tornado. We had to hire Bobcats and plumbers to rectify the damages, which had rendered the grounds unusable for an event,” said Pillay.

He said the list of expenses include R25 000 to hire people to assist them to clean the grounds, R8 000 for the Bobcat to clear the courts, R78 000 to erect temporary fencing on the perimeter and R128 000 to hire the grounds.

This he said, set them back by R239 000.

He said the bill was expected to climb in coming days as they were in the process of bringing material to cover the water logged areas of the ground.

“The quote we received for this is in the region of R20 000. The ablution facilities are non-functioning, the basins, taps and pipes have been stolen. So we have contracted our own plumbers to fix it. You cannot have a fair without toilets. Nothing is working.

“In 1996 the Tongaat Child and Family Welfare Society built the now standing ablution facilities as an appreciation for the municipality building us a bridge but these same toilets have been vandalised even when there is security at the grounds,” said Pillay.

Before 1996, the grounds were free to hire for the NGO.

“1996 was the last year we used the grounds free of charge. We had the apartheid government giving us the grounds for free but the ANC government makes us pay. We do the work of the government, they are supposed to be helping the people but instead they work against us. The ANC is supposed to be sympathetic to the people who we help.

“We only get 50% subsidy from the government and the other 50% we make up by having events like the charity fair which brings in about R600 000 but now more than half of our profits will go to fixing the grounds and paying for hire,” said Pillay.

He said as an NGO, they should not have been charged so much for hire, especially considering the ground’s condition.

“We were seriously concerned about the current status of the grounds. If one is paying a hire charge, surely we should receive a ground that is usable and safe for our patrons. The profits from our charity fairs is what sustains our organisation and this allows us to provide the much needed welfare services to our communities. The condition of the Outspan Grounds was unacceptable to host our fair,” said Pillay.

He said they were working with volunteers to fix certain issues in a bid not to pay extra for labour.

“The municipality’s approach to this has been disappointing. Even the ward councillors don’t pay any attention to our calls for help.

“Now we have to resort to asking for some free labour to get the work done before the fair opens on Thursday. We will have to work 24/7 to have everything done because 20 000 people are expected to attend the fair.

“The responsibility of the state is to see for its people. We help the government by addressing social issues and poverty but they don’t seem to want to make our work easier,” added Pillay.

He said that the KwaDukuza Child Welfare in Stanger received their grounds for free.

“The KwaDukuza Municipality supports the Stanger Child Welfare. They give them the grounds for free and they fix any issues that may arise at their own cost. Our municipality does not help us like they are supposed to,” said Pillay.

He said also went to the eThekwini Mayor, Cyril Xaba, with his concerns but to date, he has received no feedback.

The eThekwini Municipality did not comment at the time of publication.

The POST