The Peter Mokaba Sports complex will benefit all the people of Limpopo. This was asserted by the Executive Mayor of Polokwane during last week Thursday’s glittering ceremony that marked the completion of construction of the stadium.

Accepting the symbolic key on behalf of the City, Executive Mayor of Polokwane, Mr. Thabo Makunyane, said he is proud to receive the key on behalf of the City and the people of Limpopo. “In 2002 we announced that the Pietersburg Rugby Stadium will be renamed to Peter Mokaba and that we will be investing a R100 million in eight years to ensure that the stadium is of standard and benefit all the people of Polokwane, but today we stand in this world class facility that is legacy for all the people of Limpopo”, Makunyane said to a rousing applause from the guests.

He said the completion of the stadium does not only indicate the readiness of the city’s 2010 FIFA World Cup™ preparedness, but also “an important milestone in the history of the city and the province as previously the Limpopo was overlooked for major events as a result of unavailability of suitable facilities”. “The people of Limpopo will now proudly boast that they have a world class facility that is an investment for now and beyond 2010”, he said.

He said government has invested in infrastructure that will change the people’s lives for the better. Makunyane said the city will engage the services of an experienced and very competent facility Management Company to run and manage the stadium to ensure that it is kept alive at all times.

The second part of the event was used to stage the launch of the Peter Mokaba Cup™ soccer spectacular as part of launching and opening the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex officially. The soccer spectacular that includes PSL giants, Kaizer Chiefs, SuperSport United, Bidvest Wits and a leading Copenhagen club, Bronby, is billed to take place on Saturday, 23 January 2010.

An Open Day event was also held on the 16 December 2010 from 09h00 to 18h00 to give members of the public an opportunity to tour the facility in groups. Over 6 000 members of the public will be allowed entrance. Free tickets are available from Shoprite/Checkers and Computicket on a first come first served based with only one ticket issued per person. Another event at the stadium will take place on 30 January 2010 when the two rugby teams the Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Auto and General Lions lock horns in a Super 14 game.

The construction of the stadium which started in March 2007 took 32 months to complete. The formal contractual handover was done on 11 November 2009 and the final handover is expected to be on 11 February 2010 when the contractor will totally move out of site. The new stadium has been built adjacent to the old stadium to form the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex. From its surrounding, the R1, 3 billion asset has created a landmark for the city and the entire province.

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Issued by Comms and PPU

Contact: Tshidiso Mothapo

Tel: 015 290 2111

matshidisom@polokwane.gov.za