Stadium lease deal ‘killed athletics’

Border-kei Chamber of Business pleads with BCM to review its decision

But if our facilities are not taken care of by the metro, or protected, we have nothing to offer our young people

The quality of athletes at schools has gone backwards as they do not have anywhere to train

The Border-kei Chamber of Business has raised concerns about the leasing of a BCM sports stadium to Chippa Holdings, pleading with the municipality to review its decision, which it said was crippling sports activities in the metro.

The chamber, in a recent letter to mayor Xola Pakati, claimed the leasing of East London’s Jan Smuts Athletics Stadium to Chippa United FC boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi for the next 20 years, has literally “killed athletics in our city”.

The chamber further alleged that, by leasing the stadium to Chippa, Pakati had “disadvantaged the whole city”.

In late 2020, the BCM council approved the leasing of the Jan Smuts and Buffalo City stadiums to Chippa Holdings, amid an uproar from some quarters, including sports associations.

In terms of a proposal made to BCM, the Buffalo City and Jan Smuts stadiums would be rented to the company for R3,000 a month. Mpengesi would, in turn, invest more than R10m in the metro, with the soccer club boss aiming to base a sports academy at the Buffalo City Stadium.

Chippa had applied to BCM to “manage not only the stadium, but the entire precinct, develop it and raise funding so it can change and transform”, Mpengesi said at the time.

On Tuesday, the business chamber’s executive director, Lizelle Maurice, confirmed writing a letter to Pakati, raising a number of concerns, including the nonpayment of service providers by the city, cable theft and billing issues, safety and security in the metro and the condition of the city’s sports facilities.

In her letter, Maurice told Pakati that, “the letting the Jan Smuts athletics stadium to Chippa Holdings, has literally killed athletics in our city, with many athletics clubs and schools having been left out in the cold, as they no longer are able to use this facility for sporting events, or having to pay an exorbitant fee to utilise this facility”.

“A request to review this lease agreement has so far fallen on deaf ears, but we request that such should be prioritised, because by letting the stadium to one company, you have disadvantaged the whole city,” Maurice wrote.

“We note with concern that our sporting facilities are being vandalised once again by cable, scrap metal and opportunistic thieves.

“One of the ways to keep children and young people off our streets, is through sport.

“But if our facilities are not taken care of by the metro, or protected, we have nothing to offer our young people.

“As a chamber, we had high hopes to attract national and international sporting events to our city to stimulate economic activity.

“However, what is going on now, makes this a hard-toachieve possibility,” Maurice said.

On Tuesday, Maurice said the chamber had been approached by a number of athletics clubs unable to use the stadium, or pay the exorbitant fees being charged. Schools and clubs were having to pay between R4,000 and R15,000 a day to use the facility.

Pakati did not comment on Tuesday, but said he would meet the chamber soon to discuss its concerns.

Mpengesi secured a 20-year lease for the running of both facilities in December 2020.

On Tuesday, Mpengesi said he had yet to sign the long-term lease agreement, and to consult with sporting stakeholders.

He said the terms and conditions for the occupation of the BCM stadiums still needed to be finalised.

“The costs of maintaining such stadiums are very huge. We use our limited resources to pay about R200,000 a month to maintain and secure them, hence the fees we charge.

“But such fees can drastically reduce when terms and conditions are concluded with the municipality, which can even tell us which people [are] to be allowed to use the grounds for free,” Mpengesi said.

Maurice said the business chamber had unsuccessfully attempted to arrange a meeting with Mpengesi.

The Chippa boss said he would meet the chamber and sports stakeholders only after the terms and conditions for the use of the facilities had been finalised.

A former athletics coach in the region, Rodwell Simms, said on Tuesday that athletes had been forced to use the road for their speed training since the deal was reached with Mpengesi.

“This is killing athletics in our Border region, which used to have very talented athletes.

“The quality of athletes at schools has gone backwards as they do not have anywhere to train.”