Founder of Mamelodi Skate Club, Poelo Mofolo, says he almost gave up on his dream to build a skate park for young people in the township after he was taken from pillar to post by government departments for three years while seeking an empty land for his project.
He said he first knocked on the door of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure after he was told the site he sought was under its jurisdiction.
The officials at the department told him he needed to obtain permission from SAPS supply chain management in order to utilise the site he had identified for skateboarding activities.
Mofolo said: “But SAPS said they didn’t own the land; it was only allocated to them by the department. I told them that the department is fine with us getting the site and that we just need permission from SAPS.”
He told the Pretoria News on Tuesday that he “nearly gave up” because it took him three years to secure the site.
“It was really disheartening. But, then I reached out to the newly-appointed Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson,” he said.
His club has an Instagram site, where they post activities and what they are getting up to.
“I reached out to the minister and immediately the minister looked at what we are doing and he said ‘this is just said wow, it's a great initiative’. He asked for my mobile numbers. And, I tell you - the next day, the minister called me and not via personal assistant. He is very down-to-earth. I was surprised, especially as someone who has been dealing with officials,” Mofolo said.
According to him, officials who worked with him in the past behaved like “celebrities”.
“And this minister now, he is like you and I speaking. He is a gentleman and we need South Africans like that. And I don’t care what political party he belongs to. I am not about that; I am not affiliated to anything. He keeps his word,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mofolo got an opportunity to meet the minister in person when he went to officially hand over the site to his club.
“Today (on Tuesday) I went to meet Poelo, the founder of the Mamelodi Skate Club, who contacted me about the difficulties he was having to get land released to build a skate park for the community. The project is fully funded already and they just needed a home for their park. I’m inspired more than ever to use our public assets for public good,” Macpherson posted on X.
Asked what kept him motivated in his effort to get a site, Mofolo said: “What kept me motivated is the work that I have put in and the love for children that I work with.”
His club has more than 60 children and in a week trainers run two skate lessons and see at least 30 participants.
His dream of building a skate park, he said, has since grown into a vision of having a multi-purpose facility called Edu-Park consisting of a skate park, tennis court, library and classrooms that schools can use for homework after school.
“It will be a beacon of hope for the youth of Mamelodi and that is what Edu-Park is going to be. We need more funding. We do have some support in terms of skate park and computer centre. This project will be developed in a space of five years,”he said.
Mofolo, who grew up at a children’s home called the Child Protection Centre, said he wanted to plough back his skateboarding skills to township children.
He recalled that one of the ladies at the children's home had a son who owned a skateboard.
He then befriended the lady’s son and they started skateboarding together.
“He gave me his old skateboard. We got sponsored by a local skate shop. We became ambassadors for that shop because they used to take us to Durban. I never grew up with my family. I know the power of skateboarding because it taught me how to be resilient and how to not give up,”he said.
Pretoria News