Recreation Study

CASE STUDY 4LwandleDistrict 6Highest SES IndexEast side of the CapeTown metropoleLwandle is located in District 6 on the east side of the Cape Town metropole. It hasthe highest SES Index of any of the community case studies, suggesting high levelsof unemployment, low levels of education and many other social problems.Lwandle provides a useful case study when looking at the key role that recreationstaff can play in communities.Despite the many challenges facing residents of Lwandle, the focus group participantssaid there is a huge interest and need for sport and recreation in theircommunity. They said that people in Lwandle are very motivated by sports andmany participate actively, especially on the weekends. The main problem is thatthere are not enough facilities to accommodate everyone and access to the existingfacilities is regularly blocked.1542 3SRA DISTRICTSDISTRICT 1DISTRICT 2DISTRICT 3DISTRICT 4DISTRICT 5DISTRICT 66As such, the focus group participants provided significant insights into the rolethat caretakers and recreation staff play in communities in Cape Town. Accordingto one participant, the children have a hard time accessing the community’s indoorsports facility because there is a caretaker who is very strict and doesn’t allowanyone to use the place because she says they mess up the place and leave it dirty.As a result of the facility not being used, a sports office in the community wasclosed down.Another participant expressed her frustration with the lack of access to thecommunity’s facilities – “I love sport… but I feel so frustrated that there is noaccess for us to the local facilities.” According to another participant, one of thebiggest problems they face as a community is not knowing to who speak to whenthey want to make use of the facilities. Some of the residents have had to travelas far as Somerset West to book facilities.However, these challenges haven’t stopped them. According to the participants,most of the clubs in Lwandle are thriving independently. They said the recreationalprogrammes are run by the community members themselves, with occasionalassistance from the schools. They didn’t mention any recreation staff assistingthem. The programmes available are: music, soccer, rugby, boxing, traditionaldance, weight lifting, netball, drama and judo. Thus, in terms of recommendations,the residents see the role of the City as one where the City could provide trainingand development for local clubs.70 CITY OF CAPE TOWN RECREATION STUDY