The spokesperson for the Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Tankiso Zola, stated over R80 million was spent on upgrading the stadium. The DA leader in the province, Roy Jankielsohn, has expressed his concerns over how the stadium is not utilised. It was in 2021 when the departmental MEC, Limakatso Mahasa, together with the current provincial premier, Sisi Ntombela, unveiled the statue of the late Fezile Dabi at the never-utilised stadium, which is worth more than R3 million.

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Jankielsohn further stated that as long as the stadium is not being utilised, it stands a great risk of being vandalised, which in the future will cost the department even more money to fix. “They previously said the stadium cannot be utilised because of the land rights on the property the stadium is built on,” he explained. There have been requests by soccer clubs to utilise the stadium, which have been denied, while the state of the art facility is falling into a state of disrepair and decay. Zola explained that the stadium in question falls under the Fezile Dabi municipality for maintenance.  

OFM News has sent an enquiry to the department and the municipality responsible.

OFM News