Inet Bridge
-
The city's new DA-led mayoral committee has put the brakes on the construction of a R1,5 billion soccer stadium for the 2010 World Cup
By Chris van Gass
The city's new Democratic Alliance (DA)-led mayoral committee has put the brakes on the construction of a R1,5 billion soccer stadium for the 2010 World Cup in Green Point until further clarity can be obtained on the finances surrounding the project.
The plan to develop Green Point as a semifinal venue for the World Cup was announced amid great fanfare by the Minister in the Presidency, Essop Pahad, Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool and the city's former mayor, Nomaindia Mfeketo, early in February after Fifa indicated its preference for the site to host the soccer spectacular.
On Monday was the deadline for a number of consultants to be appointed to move the planning process of the stadium forward, according to the city's programme of action which was accepted by the previous African National Congress (ANC)-controlled executive.
At on Monday's first "open" mayoral committee meeting under the city's new DA-led coalition, mayor Helen Zille ruled that those appointments be deferred for a week to enable the committee to unpack the "critical" issues of finances surrounding the building of the stadium.
Zille, who has raised the issue of affordability of the stadium with Rasool, said the mayoral committee did not have enough information on the financial modelling of the project and its effect on ratepayers.
Statistics given by the city's chief operation officer, Rushj Lehutso, indicated that the 68000-seater stadium would cost R1,5 billion to build and that R500 million of that cost was expected from national government.
Zille said the city "could not possibly" take a decision to spend R1 billion - the equivalent of the city's annual capital expenditure - on a stadium while there were people living in the city who were without infrastructure, sewerage and electricity.
"We need to know where the money to build the stadium is coming from, how it will be funded and that we don't bankrupt the city in the process," said Zille.
Earlier the committee approved the appointment of oversight committees and decided to refer the city's operating and capital expenditure budgets, amounting to more than R2,7 billion, to these committees for scrutiny of their "appropriateness".
Zille also announced the creation of an all-party working group to consider the city's rates and tariff structure.
Business Day
