• Rugby

Kudus set to return to the House of Pain

• 1 Week Ago 13 December 2024

A council resolution which granted Kudus Sport Trust in principle approval to develop a Sport Complex in Narraville Walvis Bay over a period of five years, must be annulled to enable the council of the harbour town to grant approval for a lease agreement for the Narraville Rugby Stadium with Kudus Rugby Football Club (KRFC).



The Management Committee (MC) of the municipality of Walvis Bay has therefore recommended that the resolution taken on 29 September 2015 be revoked and that rent for the facility should be set at N$8 500 plus N$1 275 (15% VAT) per annum. Council resolved to grant Kudus Sport Trust in principle approval to develop the Narraville Sports Complex into a state of the art sports facility at the aforementioned meeting. “Conditions were attached to the approval in principal and up to date no progress has been made in this regard. Despite several efforts by the sports office to operationalise the agreement, The Trust failed to fulfill the conditions over the past nine years,” the Management Committee said.



Irvin Izaaks, the chairman of KRFC applied on behalf of the club to lease the stadium and the clubhouse on 18 April 2024. “KRFC made use of the Jan Wilken Stadium at considerable cost to conduct activities which included weekly training sessions and Namibian Rugby Union fixtures,” Izaaks said in his motivation. He highlighted that KRFC is one of three and the only club in Walvis Bay which participates in the NRU Premier and the First Division leagues. “We are the First Division League champions and reached the semi-final of the Premier League over the past three years. We therefore wish to obtain the Narraville Rugby Stadium and Clubhouse to establish and develop the club and players.”



Izaaks added that KRFC has grown from strength to strength through the years and has 120 active rugby players of which 35 are females . “The club has an established supporter base of 2000 paid up members which makes it the third largest in Namibia in terms of its membership."



Walvis Bay is one of a few Local Authorities which provides a host of sports facilities to its ratepayers at subsidised cost. In response to a request by KRFC that Council assist with maintenance of the facility the Management Committee said that other clubs which are leasing on council property are responsible for the maintenance of such facilities. “The opinion is held that KRFC should be responsible for the maintenance and cover these costs from the income they will generate from the clubhouse and from other activities whilst council will assist with the cutting of the grass area and supply of semi-purified water,” the MC said.



The Management Committee also recommended that the lease be restricted to the sport field, the pavilion and the clubhouse. KRFC assured Council that they will add value to the Narriville Rugby Stadium by upgrading the facility, and managing it on the same high standards as expected from the Namibian Rugby Union.



Council is currently leasing 11 sport facilities to clubs or individuals and extension of these lease agreements from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2029 awaits ministerial approval. At a meeting held on 5 October 2018 Council resolved that all sport clubs or individuals must pay N$8 500 plus N$1 275 (15% VAT) per annum.