adminCurtworth Masango
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume toured Rufaro and Gwanzura stadiums to see what actually is needed to start refurbishing the historic council-owned facilities.
Several stakeholders from ZIFA, PSL, Harare City Council and the business community were part of the tour.
Council said it will construct perimeter walls, expand the changing rooms, put grandstand turnstiles, exit gates for the disabled and install a press tribune at Rufaro.
Mechanical and electrical issues as well as building solar systems, electric solar boards, levelling of playing turf, and servicing of all hydrants around the stadiums, among others, will be done at the venues.
Mafume said they want to create a more family environment at the stadium to boost attendance.
“We have to bring soccer back to a more family environment. One should be comfortable being at the stadium with his or her family. Definitely that will increase attendance,” he said.
“It’s a quick tour. Basically, we need to see what needs to be done. The finance people are here and we have to agree and know when they will start paying the money.
“We are going to pass a resolution in council on Wednesday when we hold a meeting. We will pass a resolution to reinvent the beer levy, rentals from Rufaro Marketing, and other funding towards the refurbishment of the stadium,” he said.
Mafume said they are also engaging the business community to see what synergies they can agree on.
“We brought people from the business sector for us to be able to see what synergies we can agree on.
“We have to speak to Delta, whom we have allowed to sell Chibuku in Harare since 1995, and others that are selling opaque beer to see what they can do to the stadium.
“They have been sponsoring a number of tournaments and we believe there is less worth in sponsoring tournaments without having stadiums.
“So, we are here to get a picture of what needs to be done and make sure the stadium is ready before March,” he said.
Mafume’s promise to ready Rufaro for PSL matches by March comes after energy giant Sakunda Holdings last month pulled the plug on a Memorandum of Understanding with council to transform the stadium into a modern facility.
Sakunda said they pulled out because there was lack of political will, within the City of Harare, to implement the massive project.
This is despite the investment, which had already seen Sakunda sending officials from the City of Harare, to South Africa to look at state-of-the-art facilities in the neighbouring country.
There were reports that council feared that Sakunda wanted to take over the iconic, but badly-managed facility.
But Sakunda made it clear that their intention was simply to provide the city with a stadium which the capital would be proud of.
Part of the renovations Sakunda had committed to implement included installing bucket seats, improving the sewer and water reticulation system as well as constructing proper roads leading to the venue.
Bongani Ndlovu