Durban - The Moses Mabhida Stadium is set for a multimillion rand upgrade to ensure the stadium continues to be suitable to host high profile events.Councillors were briefed recently that an amount of R35 million has been set aside for the upgrade work.
Four key priorities have been identified by the stadium management that need to be attended to.
The stadium management recently revealed that they have to procure a new Skycar.
The Skycar is one of the city’s tourist attractions but broke down a few years ago and it would be uneconomical and unsafe to fix it.
A report on the matter of the upgrades requested that authority be granted for the “head of Stadia and Facilities” to incur expenditure in the amount of R35m to ensure that stadium maintenance and network infrastructure upgrades are implemented in prioritised critical areas to sustain and improve the unit’s core business.
Expanding on the report, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the stadium had requested to retain the allocated capital budget so it is able to deliver on the four critical projects.
He said the work that needed to be done included a “revamp process” after the technical report stated the need to reinforce the stadium with larger concrete pillars and to fix the corroded steelwork on the façade (upper areas of the arch).
He said seven pillars had already been constructed in critical areas to make the structure qualify to continue with the business of hosting events, as an interim solution.
The report revealed that R20m will go towards this phase of the project.
Another aspect is the installation of air conditioning and about R3m has been set aside for this, the report said.
An amount of R7m has been set aside to address a network infrastructure upgrade. Mayisela said the network upgrade was critical to improve day-to-day business.
Another part of the project is to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the event of power failure or load shedding. This will cost around R5m.
DA councillor Yogis Govender said the stadium has been allowed to fall into disrepair with very little effective preventive maintenance.
She said the upgrades were long overdue and should be tackled urgently.