FILE - The children of Blikkiesdorp have a fighting chance through football thanks for the efforts of football coach Errol van de Byl.
Image: David Ritchie / Independent Media
The Cape Town Stadium is one of the biggest jewels in the Mother City’s crown.
The 55,000-seater venue, which was purpose built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, cost about R4.4 billion to build and has hosted some of the most memorable events in the city, with the stadium able to host anything from big sporting events, monster truck rallies and music concerts.
The building of the stadium started in 2007 in the lush Green Point suburb right next to the Atlantic Ocean. At the time thousands of homeless people lived in that area, but were removed from the land to accommodate the venue in the shadow of Table Mountain.
Some 10,000 homeless people were then relocated to live in corrugated iron shacks on a dusty piece of land between the airport and the crime-ridden suburb of Delft. At the time politicians called it a “Temporary Relocation Area”, promising proper housing in the near future.
However, after almost 18 years, those promises have come to nothing and “Blikkiesdorp” has now become an informal settlement with all too familiar social ills.
Like most informal settlements, Blikkiesdorp has become a crime hotspot, especially after the arrival of gangsters soon after the people moved in.
Violent crime such as murder, rape is almost an every day occurrence, while drug abuse and extortion are also rampant.
The kids are normally the ones who suffer the most. Poverty, malnutrition and no extra curricular activities on offer, make them easy targets for gangsters, who are essentially seen as role models in the area.
However, a husband and wife who live close to the area didn’t like what they were seeing and wanted to do something that could pry the kids free from what is becoming a generational cycle of gangsterism, drugs and crime.
Errol and Joyce van der Byl started a football team in 2009 to try and keep the youngsters off the streets and give an alternative to a life of crime and gangsterism.
But how would they get the kids to actually come and play football? The answer is half an orange slice …
“I saw the kids had nothing constructive to do after school. Some of them were smoking dagga as the gangers were pulling them in. I thought I had to do something to get them away from the gangsters,” Errol van der Byl said.
“My wife and I needed to earn their trust and it all started with three bags of oranges. The kids were hungry, so after practice we gave them half an orange each. From then on they got used to us and we started earning their trust. That is when we started Blikkiesdorp United FC.”
Almost 16 years later and the Van der Byl’s football team has become an non-profit organisation (NPO) called Sophumelela FC - which means “we will succeed” - with over 150 junior players in various teams.
Errol, who has retired after working as a janitor at a technical school in Delft, has ploughed almost all of his pension into the football club with the sole purpose of giving youngsters a chance to succeed, whether it be at football or life.
But hasn’t done it alone, with people such as humanitarian Marchelle Hendricks and social entrepreneur Graham Bath, as well as professional football club Cape Town Spurs, who have helped with fundraising and raising awareness about the plight of the people of Blikkiesdorp and the unbelievable job the Van der Byl’s are doing.
The Blikkiesdorp United kids.
Image: Supplied
“Errol and Joyce are the real heroes,” Bath said. “I don't think they realise the actual impact they have had on the community.
“We saw the sad story of missing Joshlin Smith. Kids are vulnerable and they need to be protected and Errol and Joyce have been the custodians of those kids … they are the mother and father hens that look after their safety.
“When the kids go out there they are happy and joyful. They can just be kids.”
The children of Blikkiesdorp now get more than just half an orange, as they have a container which they use as a kitchen to feed not only the kids, but also members of the community. They even help to feed the people visiting the day hospitals in Delft, with some of the big retail supermarkets also making monthly contributions to the cause.
The Van der Byl’s also bought a microbus to drive kids to and from their football matches, which is mostly being played in the neighbouring Heideveld, because they don’t have a field in Blikkiesdorp.
There was an appeal from the Van Byl’s and others for the City of Cape Town to try and level a part of the land where the kids play to use as a training field. However, that land belongs to the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) and the parties involved don’t quite know what to do about it, as there is also an environmental concern.
There has also been talk about the residents of Blikkiesdorp being relocated as the informal settlement is getting closer and closer to the airport. But, after almost 18 years, the wait continues.
While Cape Town boast a venue such as the former World Cup Stadium, it also has little patches of dirt where people such Errol and Joyce van der Byl forge ahead to try and give the kids in informal settlements a chance to succeed at football, but mostly at life.
Despite the obstacles thrown at them and almost no help from government, they fight for the kids' survival every day of their lives.
“Not everyone is going to become a professional footballer, but football teaches things such as teamwork, discipline and hard work. It’s also about respecting yourself and each other,” Errol van der Byl said.
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