Tracey Farren
Devil thorns grow like wildfire in Lavender Hill on the Cape Flats. Winter rains, bone-dry summers and the constant pounding of boots leave the soccer fields deeply scarred and uneven. Residents from a dilapidated landscape of flats assemble on the periphery, to warm up for a match or shout for their teams, and several dark cars, mostly BMWs, line up nearby. A high-speed match ensues on the furthest field.
Closer to the road, a high pass is lifted by the wind and dropped inside a barbed wire fence. The players stand sweating and poised while someone goes to fetch the ball. At least the ball is indisputably out. There are no lines at the Shepherd’s Court fields, only a semblance of goalposts for guidance and imaginary lines are drawn in the minds of everyone there.
The Lavender Hill sports board received five bags of lime last week from the South Peninsula Department of Parks and Recreation. It’s a small gesture, but an important token of partnership between grassroots sport and local authorities.
The board is an interim body that was established after several incidents of gang fighting late last year. A peace effort involving Cape Town’s Safer City Forum resulted in Lavender Hill residents taking over sports development. Within a week of their appointment, coordinator Alphonso Nel and four others called a meeting at the local high school and mustered the support of 22 football, four rugby and eight netball teams.
The board is cautious when stating its objectives. It has to negotiate with powerful gangs such as the Funkies and the Mongrels, which have a stake in local sport that it would be suicidal to challenge. Board members speak of getting equipment from the Department of Sport and Recreation, improving the fields and concentrating on the juniors. It is left unsaid that the board is skirting the potential property of the local gangs that co-opt teams or individual players to win money for them in gambling games.
The BMW brigade represents what an officer at the South Peninsula Sport and Recreation Directorate calls the sports “underworld”. It is common knowledge that local drug lords conscript teams to play gambling matches against other crime bosses. It is also common knowledge that the cream of the Sunday players are picked out by these lords to make up impromptu teams for winner-takes-all tournaments. No one will say whether the players are paid, but they’re tellingly referred to as mercenaries.
The post-tournament parties are no secret. Mandrax and alcohol are supplied in abundance.”The party lasts until Monday. When the guys leave, some of them can hardly walk,” says one resident.
The board is careful to include the gangsters in its vision. Public relations officer Gary Herne says: “I’ll use the phrase that everyone quotes. Irrespective of race, colour or creed, everyone is welcome. This is a community initiative and we don’t care about your background or your criminal record, as long as you abide by the rules set out for the game.”
Superintendent Everett Crowie says the gang bosses actually support the venture. “Even gangsters love soccer. And we are not putting ourselves up as saviours. We only want the kids who are gifted to know their potential.”
Jan Fourie, division manager of South Peninsula Sports and Recreation, says there are political pressures in all communities. Gangs are only one version of these. “The answer is to make sports councils truly representative of communities. We want to get away from sport as a criminal activity, but we can’t stop [the gangs] from using it either … All that we can do is show the children that you can get that gold chain and that nice fancy car another way.”
Head of the Western Cape Department of Sports and Recreation, Advocate Rod Solomon, says that rather than directly contesting the dominance of gangs, alternatives should be created. The department wants to build the capacity of local sports councils to counterbalance the grip of gangs.
Solomon mentions a new “Stepping Stones” programme that aims to establish sports clubs in “dysfunctional” schools to give children alternatives to gang groupings. Children will be encouraged to remain members of these once they leave school.
The City of Cape Town’s draft policy on sports and recreation reflects the vision of the national White Paper, which emphasises the opening up of lines of communication between formal and informal “stakeholders” and nurturing partnerships between local communities and government bodies.
In Cape Town the “culture of ownership” is a popular phrase. The idea is that the regional administration will offer its facilities to community sports councils and will make money available for maintenance. In turn, the locals will mow the grass and arrange bookings for events, for example.
Cape Town’s directorate encourages informal sport boards to apply for funds to upgrade their facilities.
Once a sports conference has been held to confirm the representative status of the board, Lavender Hill residents say they will take the directorate up on its offer. “We need sponsorship. We need jerseys and boots,” says a Lazio player.
The players also say they want talent scouts to come to the Shepherd’s Court fields to seek out potential stars. They call for complimentary tickets to let the youngsters see the professional teams play.
The sporting fraternity is listening. On Thursday the Western Province team played against Lavender Hill. Denzil Philander, coach of the William Herbert team, selected a side to represent Lavender Hill.
The board has pushed ahead with a proposal to the Safer City Forum to fund new goalposts and with an Easter launch of organised sports in Lavender Hill.