Bulawayo sports facilities in sorry state

BULAWAYO residents have lamented over the city's poor state of sports and recreational facilities, which they say points to deteriorating service delivery by the local authority.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) chairperson Ambrose Sibindi said most of Bulawayo's sporting infrastructure was no longer being maintained and some facilities had virtually disappeared.

"The sports clubs are still there but they are no longer maintained and due to economic challenges some people no longer attend due to lack of time and money. Some sports clubs had disciplines that don't cater for the black people," Sibindi said.

Deputy mayor Mlandu Ncube said council was unable to service all its sports facilities due to revenue constraints.

"Sports clubs are there, some are maintained, while some are not. The council services them in partnership with individual private players in the communities, but because of revenue constraints, some sports clubs are no longer serviced. We use surplus revenue to maintain sports clubs but people don't have money so the council fails to maintain all the sports clubs," Ncube said.

Some of the sports clubs in Bulawayo include Bulawayo Athletics Club, Bulawayo Golf Club, Hornung Park Club, Bowls Zimbabwe, Highlanders Football Club, Zimbabwe Saints Club House, Crescent Sports Club, Suburbs Squash Club, Bulawayo Municipal Club, Hillside Bowling Club and Portuguese Club, among others.