August 7, 2003
By Thomas Thale
THE communities of Dobsonville, Meadowlands and Mofolo, will, this weekend, be joined by a high-powered delegation from the city, led by Mayor Amos Masondo, in festivities to celebrate the relaunching and renaming of a revamped historic park after Dorothy Nyembe, an icon of the struggle.
The 3.5 hectares Dorothy Nyembe Park, previously known as the Neac Park, will be reopened on Saturday, 9 August as part of the celebrations to coincide with Women's Day. Thys Nkutha, ward councillor for the area, says all day festivities are planned to mark the reopening of the park.
"We'll start with an aerobics marathon at nine in the morning. Then we'll have netball and soccer games featuring local teams, followed by performances from music and dance groups." Members of the mayoral committee and the ANC Women's League are expected at the ceremony. The mayor will deliver a keynote address before officially opening the park.
The city contributed R7,5-million towards the restoration of the park, which had degenerated badly, to its unspoilt beauty. Just a few months back, the park looked like a wasteland, with grass overgrown, equipment rusted and vandalised and the lake silted up.
Today though, the park sports a brand new look - new play areas have been constructed, the lake desilted, lighting installed, trees pruned, reeds cleared, the park fenced off and the grounds spruced up. The revamped park boasts sporting facilities, including netball courts, a soccer field, a volleyball court and a basketball court and play stations for chess and morabaraba.
Explaining the renaming of the park, Nkutha says the name Neac does not have any symbolic meaning. "It is not a proper name, it is just an acronym and many people don't even know what it means." Nkutha anticipates that the park will revive the community spirit.
"People here are excited. We will now have proper recreational facilities. Until now, many children were forced to play soccer because we did not have facilities to engage in other sporting codes. Now they will be able to try their hands in games as varied as netball, volleyball and basketball."
According to Nkutha, local communities have already taken steps to protect the park and to ensure that it serves an uplifting purpose. "We have established a steering committee made up of members of ward committees in the area to oversee the running of the park. Another structure comprising one person from each of the surrounding schools has also been set up to regulate the use of the park by schools. Our intention is to involve learners in sports and environmental education. Local schools will use courts for competitions."
These committees will be used to discourage the drinking of liquor in the park to conform with the new by-laws and to uproot criminal elements," Nkutha says.
From its establishment in the late 1970s, the park has been an epitome of environmental awareness in the area, with many clean-up campaigns being launched from its well-kept surroundings.
The park was set up by the National Environmental Awareness Campaign (Neac), an NGO which galvanised the communities to spruce up all surrounding townships. But Neac was more than just an environmental NGO. It became a catalyst for social regeneration, establishing a network of sporting clubs to occupy the youth and uplift communities. Unfortunately, in the 1990s, Neac ran out of funds and out of steam. Without maintenance, the park deteriorated badly.
The council recently adopted a resolution to name the park after Dorothy Nyembe. The development of the park was part of the Soweto Development Programme, a series of developmental projects undertaken by the City at a cost of R25-million.
Nkutha says Nyembe was chosen because of her profile as a national icon who symbolises the values of selflessness and communalism. A prominent ANC activist since the 1950s, Nyembe rose through the ranks to become deputy chairperson of the ANC Women's League in Natal and campaigned fiercely for national liberation and for the rights of women.
Following the banning of the ANC in the 1960s, Nyembe was arrested and convicted on two occasions for her involvement in ANC underground structures. First she served a three-year jail stint and, on the second occasion, she was sentenced to a longer spell of 15 years. Undaunted, Nyembe continued with her activities upon her release in 1983 and went on to become a member of the National Assembly following the 1994 elections.
"This is our way of paying tribute to Dorothy Nyembe and fostering the values she represents," says Nkutha.
It is hoped that the new park will relieve pressure on the overused Moroka Park in Rockville.
