Mbhashe mayor Samkelo Janda is hoping that a new R53m stadium in Willowvale will help dissuade the youth from engaging in crime.
The facility, which will accommodate football and rugby, also has an athletics track, and a tennis and netball court.
Janda said the municipality had vowed that while it was delivering services to the community, it would also focus on sports development.
“Sport, we know, grooms people and the youth and removes them from wrong things.
“Back in the day, there is a saying that if a child is not guided, the devil will find them easy to use,” he said.
He said if the youngsters were kept busy, they would not have the time to do wrong in the community.
Janda said youth sports should not be an event but a continuous programme.
Infrastructure development was important so that the youth would not be forced to play sport in substandard facilities like he did during his days as a youngster when they were forced to make balls out of plastic bags.
He said the facility would produce athletes to represent the local municipality, giving the youth a chance to compete with others in developed cities.
They also hoped that the facility would bring economic spin-offs, through sports tourism.
Janda said accommodation establishments and other businesses would benefit when games were held at the facility.
Speaking after the official handover of the ground, sport, recreation, arts and culture MEC Sibulele Ngongo said the department was committed to developing sports infrastructure in rural areas.
She said they aimed at developing local talent and providing facilities to uplift rural communities.
“We have been receiving cries that there have not been any conducive facilities, but with those kinds of facilities, we are hoping to take some important games to that stadium.”
The planning of the project started in 2017 and it came to life in 2024.
“It took time because of nitty-gritties, but we appreciate that there is a stadium,” Ngongo said.
She said the new facility would allow sports enthusiasts to perform to the best of their abilities.
“This is going to address a lot of problems that we’ve been facing as the entire province.”
Ngongo said the department had plans in the pipeline to maintain and fix facilities across the province.
“As the department, we are not responsible for facilities, the funds for facilities are with the municipalities, but I can tell you with Mbhashe there is a stadium that is being built in Dutywa, Msobomvu and Xhora.
“There is a move to develop facilities using municipality infrastructure grants.
“We are also encouraging them to continue with the work as we are providing sports attire and equipment.”
Ngongo said one of her many priorities was to uplift people in rural areas.
“When I made my policy speech in parliament, I put an emphasis on rural sport development.
“The reason was because of how they have been disadvantaged for quite some time and how they struggled to get to the place where their talents would be acknowledged, for them to be discovered they need to leave their areas.
“Children in rural areas have a lot of talent, unfortunately they don’t get to be seen, this is why our priority is to go where they are through school sport,” she said.
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