Driving through Krugersdorp, it is hard to miss the now white elephant called the Bob van Reenen Stadium.
Once the place that held the hopes and dreams of many athletes has been left to go to ruins. There were talks of the stadium becoming a shelter for the homeless, but it seems there are other plans to breathe life into the elephant.
DA ward candidate Mark Trump, who hopes to take over Ward 20 come the local government elections on November 1, has made it a personal project to get the stadium restored. He has teamed up with AfriForum in an effort to achieve it.
They are, however, not the only ones. Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) has proposed about R15 million to restore the stadium. To find out what they were planning, the News spoke to those involved.
Mark explained that Bob van Reenen Stadium had a special place in his heart and he remembered competing there when he was a child – a memory he believed he shared with many in the community.
“Bob van Reenen belongs to the community and we want to ensure that it becomes the community’s pride again,” he said.
AfriForum sent a letter to the Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) about the stadium earlier this year, but Martin Lombard, AfriForum Krugersdorp chairperson said they had not received any feedback. They then approached the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus for assistance.
Their proposal is that MCLM hand over the management of the stadium to them. Unfortunately, they cannot take it over themselves because they are an NPO but, as he explained, their company called Pionier would be managing the stadium.
“We just want to take over the management, not the entire premises,” he added. They will then restore the stadium with the assistance of sponsors and fundraising.
“We want to open the stadium for the community to use. Children are playing soccer in a field next to Munsieville while there is a stadium they should be able to use. We want the children of Krugersdorp to experience what we had as children.”
Another person who has been fighting for Bob van Reenen for the past 11 years is Amanda de Lange from the FF+. She explained that Bob van Reenen did not belong to MCLM but they had merely been appointed as custodians of the stadium.
In the 2021/2022 Proposed Capital Budget MCLM allocated R1 million from the Integrated Urban Development Grant and R14 470 200 from the 2023/2024 budget to fix the stadium.
However, Amanda said it would cost a lot more than R14 million to revitalise the stadium.
MCLM admitted that the budget had been allocated tentatively but needed council’s approval.
In a statement issued by Adrian Amod, head of Corporate Communications at MCLM, he said the municipality had always wanted to revive Bob van Reenen but could not because of the extent of the work and the financial resources required. “Thus, the interest is not sudden.”
When asked what went wrong in the first place he explained that some work had been done at the stadium in 2013/ 2014 after which the municipality entered into a long-term agreement with a party that left the stadium vacant and exposed to vandals.
The statement explained that the money would come from the MCLM coffers, and that the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation had been requested to supplement the budget.
“The aim is to refurbish the entire facility in a phased approach over a period of five years.”
MCLM also said legal challenges faced with the previous agreement made them tread more carefully when it comes to handing over management of the facility to someone else.
“What remains of paramount importance for the municipality is that the facility is restored to its former glory, but also be accessible to all stakeholders to make use of it for training and events.”
Lastly, the News wanted to know if it was wise to take on such a big project when others in Mogale City have not been completed.
MCLM replied, “We note that there have been some challenges with the delivery of other projects in the municipality whether budgetary or operational; we take learnings from these and there is wisdom in pursuing the completion of projects that cater to the many needs of the community of Mogale City. Such needs, including the stadium, are constantly flagged by members of the community during Integrated Development Planning (IDP) engagements which the municipality embarks on twice a year.”
