Save Our Stables Foundation

Remembering the Cyril Geoghegan Velodrome
The Kingspark Cycling Stadium.

Built in the 1980s, the Cyril Geoghegan Velodrome was one of only three in the country. At the time, it was seen as the nation’s state of the art cycling facility. It proudly served as the home of Cycling SA and Savages Athletics Club before their eviction by the eThekwini Municipality.

The Velodrome even boasted a unique tunnel linking it to the Newmarket Stables, designed for horses to enter during major events.

Sadly…
Under the so-called “care” of the eThekwini Municipality, this once-proud facility has been reduced to ruins. The leaseholder has stripped and sold off metal railings and fencing. The roof has been blown away. The inner field, used for show jumping and other sporting activities is now completely overgrown with two meter bush. Another section close to the tunnel is submerged by a meter of water and home to meter long catfish.

Where is the accountability?
It is the legal obligation of the eThekwini Municipality to maintain and protect its properties. Instead, it has overlooked the destruction of a national sporting landmark
and robbed it's ratepayers of another facility!

Photo Credits:
📷SUF

In 2018, the Stables Traders Representative Committee (STRC) was established to safeguard the rights and interests of traders at the Stables Lifestyle Market.
For nearly 30 years, these traders worked tirelessly raising families, paying school fees, and putting bread on their tables.

The Stables Lifestyle Market was much more than just a flea market.
It was the livelihood to 400 families, the sole income and their small business.

In 2020, The eThekwini Municipality made a decision to evict the traders of the Stables Lifestyle Market to make way for a billion rand world class sports development center.
This decision displaced traders whose lives depended on this only source of income.
Since our eviction the STRC has fought tirelessly for the reinstatement of the traders.

In 2022 The STRC grew into The Save Our Stables Foundation, a NPC with resilience and determination to continue its mission to restore the lost livelihoods and protect its traders.

Our home, our livelihood, our fight!