Bob van Reenen: Mayor Seerane’s biggest regret
The Mayor opens up about what went wrong with the Bob van Reenen Sports Hub deal.
The Bob van Reenen Sports Stadium has gone from being a community landmark, to being an eye-sore.
The News spoke to Mogale City’s outgoing Executive Mayor, Kokektso Calvin Seerane, to find out why this has happened.
It appears that there were plans to build a new R1,2 billion stadium for the Kaizer Chiefs Soccer Club in the mid-2000s. Sadly, these plans never materialised, and the stadium was left in a dilapidated state.
According to Seerane, the deal was made with Kaizer Chiefs, who had received the support of the provincial government.
“Unfortunately, nobody saw the unwelcome surprise of the 2008 credit crunch coming. This led to the collapse of the deal to bring the Kaizer Chiefs to Krugersdorp,” he said.
In 2013, another revamp was announced, and residents of Krugersdorp could not contain their excitement. However, this revamp, which was to have formed part of the Inner City Rejuvenation Project, also fell through – and it’s one of Seerane’s biggest regrets.
Seerane went on to say that a decision to revive the stadium has now been made, money has been spent by the provincial government, and the revamp will go ahead. However, the council needs to find an organisation with the ability to draw larger crowds to the stadium to partner with for the revamp to be able to take place.
Once completed, the fully functioning sports hub will have a positive impact on the economy of Krugersdorp.
More Bob van Reenen news:
Remembering the man behind the stadium
Gauteng Premier visits Bob van Reenen Stadium
Bob van Reenen’s R10 million revamp
