Stadiums: The good, the bad and the ugly
With such a high calibre of sports clubs, one would assume that the sports facilities in the city resemble the great talent on the field.
With that being said, we list some of the stadiums in Pretoria that have either been a thorn in the flesh or a pleasurable bliss among supporters over the past year.
HM Pitje in Mamelodi
This once majestic stadium, home to the African Champions, Sundowns, and host to numerous festivals, has been dysfunctional and dormant since 2005.
Previously, the stadium was identified by the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts Recreation and Culture as one of the four stadiums in Gauteng to be upgraded as part of the legacy programme ahead of the World Cup in 2010. But two World Cups later, the stadium is still in dire condition.
It still remains non-compliant with safety and construction regulations and as such no occupational certificates have been issued.
Millions of rand have been pumped into the refurbishment of the stadium - which started in 2006 by the Tshwane Metro Council and the Gauteng provincial government.
Emergency and seating requirements are also not up to basic standards. The angle of the seating is dangerous and pitch visibility is obsolete in certain sections of the stands.
Meanwhile, mining billionaire boss Patrice Motsepe pleaded with the provincial government to hand over HM Pitje to Sundowns, only for his pleas to fall on deaf ears.
The Downs boss was even prepared to foot the renovation bill. His plan was to take all Downs home games to Mamelodi, where they first started the club and still enjoy strong support.
The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development vowed to resurrect the dilapidated stadium in Mamelodi West.
“With regard to the HM Pitje refurb, we do confirm we were implementing the project in collaboration with the city administration,” said the department's spokesperson Theo Nkonki.
“In fact, we have been in consultation with the Metropolitan Municipality with a view of finally taking the project forward to its completion,”added Nkonki.
The Pretoria News has learnt that the City has allocated a budget for the 2017/18 financial year.
“The City has committed a budget and we as the provincial government are working on a necessary process that will allow Treasury to fund the completion of this project,” said Nonki.
The possible actions for HM Pitje Stadium are:
1.Retrofitting it through partial demolition and rebuilding it.
2.To demolish the entire pavilion and rebuild it.
3.To demolish the entire pavilion and re-use demolished material for rebuilding, paid for by the contractor.
Odi Stadium in Mabopane
Once a famous place, the Odi stadium hosted big Bophuthatswana Bopsol games.
The 60 000-seater stadium, built by the erstwhile homeland government of Bophuthatswana in the 1980s, was subsequently transferred to the City after the collapse of the former bantustan.
The likes of Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs, Moroka Swallows,and Wits University also played big games at the Odi.
The stadium has now turned into a dangerous ground, not for away teams, but for visitors who face tough criminals and vagrants.
Children in the community are left with no place to take part in recreational activities so many bored kids resort to drugs and alcohol.
MMC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture Ntsiki Mokhotho said: “Our plan is to make sure that all of our facilities are working. The only thing that holds us back is that we don't have money.
“We would like to get all our stadiums functioning.”
She said the DA-led administration would consider the proposal by the previous ANC municipality under Kgosientso Ramokgopa to demolish the facility and turn it into a multi-purpose centre.
The possible actions for Odi Stadium are:
1.To demolish the stadium and rebuild it.
2. To retain the stadium and upgrade it.
3.To convert the stadium into a multi-purpose sport and recreational park.
Caledonian Stadium - Arcadia
This stadium, situated in the heart of the city, was previously embroiled in numerous battles with the previous ANC led municipality.
The stadium is home to Arcadia Shepherds Football Club that has used the stadium for more than a century.
It has been home to the club for 115 years and it was the club that appealed against the City's decision to demolish the facility.
The previous administration wanted to turn the iconic stadium into an inner city park.
Executive mayor Solly Msimanga has assembled a task team to safeguard the stadium to make sure it remains a sporting field instead of the proposed park. "I have instructed a task team to ensure that the historical Caledonian Stadium remains a sports field where sport fanatics can continue to use it,” Msimanga said.
The task team, according to Msimanga, will evaluate the stadium and provide feedback on what else is needed to improve the dilapidated stadium and make it user-friendly again with more sporting facilities.
Msimanga said the City wanted to upgrade the stadium for everyone to access it. The upgrading will include other facilities like track and field and a sand pit.
After the task team has concluded its report it will engage the mayor on the cost implications and the process involved in making the stadium a state-of-the-art sporting field.
Club boss Lucky Manna said he welcomed Msimanga’s decision to retain the stadium. “Our prayers have finally been answered. He (Msimanga) has the interests of the people at heart. He knows what a gem the stadium is to the city,” Manna said. R50 million rand will be pumped into the stadium for refurbishment.
Loftus Versveld - Hatfield
The stadium is home to the Vodacom Blue Blues and is frequently used by Mamelodi Sundowns.
Loftus is the cream of the crop of stadiums in the city. The stadium, which was built in 1906 and has a capacity of 51 762 people, is still in mint condition and is only getting better. A R 1.45 billion project is currently under way to transform the area around the stadium into a bustling business and leisure hub.
The style of the architecture, purposefully exposing the raw metal and brick of the structure is so fitting for the sport of rugby. The stadium was also featured in the Clint Eastwood film Invictus, which starred Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. The match featured was between England and South Africa that took place on June 4, 1994.
In 2010 Loftus hosted six soccer matches for the Fifa World Cup. Spain, who eventually emerged as World Cup winners, was among the teams who played here. Other notable international teams that played there are Manchester United and Manchester City.
Also on the premises and well worth a visit, are the Blue Bulls Shop and Trademarx Restaurant and Bar.
Lucas Moripe - Atteridgeville
The stadium on the famous Maunde Street is the pride and joy of locals, and it is quite evident why.
Renovated in 2008, the Lucas "Masterpieces" Moripe Stadium was known as the Super Stadium.
It is a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 28 900. It is one of the stadiums that is well maintained, from the lawns, to the water drainage systems, flood lights, all the way to the VIP suites.
It is currently the home stadium of SuperSport United and the part-time home stadium of Mamelodi Sundowns The stadium was named after former local soccer player Lucas Moripe in 2010. The German national football team used it as a training venue during the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Absa Tuks Stadium - Hatfield
Home to second division football club AmaTuks, it seats only 8 000 people. But don't let the intimate seating space fool you, the stadium is one of the best in the city.
The stadium boasts four television booths, 10 radio booths, 20 print media suites and six television camera platforms.
It also has a fully equipped medical centre on the West stand.
To top it all off, the stadium is surrounded by the top of the range High Performance Centre, which offers a sports school, a sports science centre, full hospitality services, as well as world-class coaching and training facilities in a one-stop-venue.
But, with all the exceptionally good and the excruciatingly bad stadiums, citizens of the city still love sport and hope that the good will continue to flourish and the bad will finally receive some love.