“One thing for sure is that we have changed the face of Polokwane for the better and the legacy will stay forever.” This was said by the Executive Mayor of Polokwane, Thabo Makunyane during a special event in Polokwane that was held in celebration of the hard work that was deployed to ensure that the city delivers a successful staging of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and speeding up of infrastructure development.
Makunyane said “the immense work that has been put in the preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is finally paying off for the City of Polokwane”. He said it is through concerted efforts by the councillors and the municipality’s management that the municipality’s agenda of ‘piggy-bagging’ from the 2010 agenda has changed the city’s landscape for the better even for the future generations.
Strolling down memory lane, the Executive Mayor said work started in 2002 before the bidding process started when the municipality took a bold step to announce during the funeral service of the late Peter Mokaba that the then Pietersburg Rugby Stadium would be renamed to Peter Mokaba Stadium and that R110 million would be invested in the stadium over a period. He asserted that it was not by luck, but by a lot of concerted effort and hard work during the host city bidding process that Polokwane was eventually selected as a host city for the football spectacle. “Polokwane was vigorously assessed by the organisers if we had the financial muscle and capacity to host big events and out of thirteen prospective host cities we came at number eight,” he said.
Though the 2010 FIFA World Cup is not the municipality’s agenda, but FIFA agenda, Makunyane said the municipality had to capitalise on this agenda to push its own agenda that focused on:
- Speeding up infrastructure development in the city that includes improved and new roads network, a bridge that gives motorists and pedestrians’ access to areas where it was previously not easy to access, world class sporting facilities in the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex including the athletics stadium.
- Urban renewal and city beautification which is focussing on replacing ageing infrastructure like water pipes, new water storage capacity in the 50Ml reservoir and new electrical supply line to the city which ensures energy security.
- Transport system with intelligent traffic lights, fibre optic lines and streets cameras (cctv) that are centrally coordinated and could also be utilised as crime deterrents.
- Utilising the attention on Polokwane to create a unique brand for the city - the African City of Stars - which has catapulted the city to compete neck to neck with other cities to the rest of the world.
- Taking advantage of the 2010 Green Goal to launch the municipality’s own greening programme.
The Executive mayor was quick to caution though that given the achievements and direction the city is taking in attracting more foreign tourists, the city could still do more to develop the city’s night-life in the context of creating a 24 hours economy that would assist in creating employment opportunities and economic development of the city and enrich the experience of being in Polokwane.
Ends
Issued by Comms and PPU
Phuti Lekganyane
Tel: 015 290 2111
Cell: 076 581 4616
