KwaZulu-Natal’s oldest and largest tennis facility is on the brink of closure after a year-long impasse with eThekwini municipality to approve an income-generating digital signboard.
The cash-strapped Westridge Tennis Stadium says it will be forced to shut its doors if it is unable to secure funds to keep operations running, which will have a knock-on effect on various other business and community activities in the surrounding communities.
“We will close down completely at the end of February 2024. Our venue is used for over 20 tournaments in the year, and there is nowhere else in KZN that can host these tournaments as they need more than 15 courts. We have little kids playing soccer on our grounds, church groups hold sermons, fitness groups use the stadium stairs — all this will come to a halt,” said Kim Hayes from the eThekwini Tennis Association (ETA).
In 1956 the Durban Lawn Tennis Association (now ETA) signed a 99-year lease with the municipality to build and maintain the stadium with a centre court and outside courts, in Mayville.
ETA, which is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the stadium, grounds and courts, employs 11 full-time staff members, who have been working reduced hours since the beginning of February.
“The strongest tennis development programme in the country has now ceased, and the safe haven we created for all the kids from nearby Cato Crest, Mayville and Chesterville will be a thing of the past,” said Hayes.
This, however, could be avoided if the municipality approved an application to replace a 15-year-old analogue advertising billboard.
“We applied to council in 2023 to erect an advertising signboard, which will generate the income we desperately need to survive. We have followed all the correct channels and protocols and paid the necessary application fees.”
ETA sub-leases to an external company, Evolv Outdoors, to manage signage and advertising within the venue. The company develops large-format outdoor billboards and sells them to third party clients and advertisers.
Founder Chris Masters said they are willing to invest about R5m to build a 4.5mx18m (roughly 81m²) digital board.
“Generally how that works in terms of raising funds for the tennis club, the association and the community at large is we invest the money, build the structure and deal with the application on behalf of the tennis club and sell that advertising space to third-party advertisers to generate revenue,” he said.
“A portion of that revenue then gets paid to the tennis association for them to use at their disposal: be it to pay salaries, maintain the property or upskill people — whatever they need.”
He said they made the application in May 2023 but received no feedback from the city despite sending several emails, until they escalated the matter to the municipal manager Musa Mbhele.
“We received a refusal against our application around November 2023 and made our appeal on December 11. There’s been radio silence ever since then: no acknowledgment of our appeal, and we repeated the process of sending emails to city officials, including Mbhele, again.”
In the event that approval (for an income-generating digital signboard) is not given soon, the largest and oldest tennis facility in KZN will cease to exist.
— Chris Masters
He said the city only responded after news of the potential closure was circulated on social media, amid public speculation the city wanted a “bribe” to approve the application.
“All our fees for this application, which are in the tens of thousands, have been paid and we’ve received no invoices or any communication from the city since then. We’ve sent another email to everyone that was copied in the previous correspondence that was indirectly sent through to us and requested for guidance as to who was dealing with the matter?”
Masters said they are aggrieved by the city’s reluctance to engage with them on this application to save the facility.
“In the event that approval is not given soon, the largest and oldest tennis facility in KZN will cease to exist.”
However, eThekwini refuted claims they ignored the matter or speculation they were looking for a bribe. The municipality said they met the association’s representatives last week where the process of appeal was explained to them.
The association’s application to migrate the signage from analogue to digital was rejected in line with the city’s outdoor advertising bylaw. The bylaw states: “A billboard may be permitted for a period of five years in urban areas of minimum control and in urban areas of partial control, subject to conditions which may be imposed by the municipality.”
The city added that the venue is a “maximum control area”, thus the type of billboard required cannot be permitted as per these extracts of the bylaw:
- (a) Only low-impact outdoor advertising signs that does not interfere with, dominate or derogate in any way from the character or quality of the environment, including the visual, social and traffic safety aspects, will be permitted
- (b) Third-party advertising is not permitted
Masters disputed the area was a maximum control area, saying it was listed under “partial control areas” according to the bylaw.
He said the city rejection seemed to be based on an application by a previous service provider.
“It has nothing to do with the new application, it was another service provider back in the day that had an approval but failed to renew it timeously. It has nothing to do with us or the KZNTA. They are completely independent and separate,” he said.
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