Grand opening for athletics stadium
BUILT at a cost of just more than R91 million, the new Msunduzi Athletics Stadium in Pietermaritzburg has finally been completed and is set for a grand opening on Saturday with the inaugural Africa Athletics League.
The total spent as well as the extra cost required for the grand opening has raised a few eyebrows, but upon further investigation the project can only be viewed as an overall positive for the city, province and country.
In 2004, the old Dale’s Park Station was touted as a possible location, but with subsequent feasibility studies the final decision was for the venue to be moved to the sporting precinct of Alexandra Park.
Surrounded by Maritzburg United’s Harry Gwala Stadium, The Oval cricket ground and a world-class cycling arena, the decision was an easy one.
Bearing in mind that the city also hosts the Comrades Marathon, Duzi Canoe Marathon, Mandela Day Marathon and international cycling and mountain biking events, then it is easy to see why the “sleepy hollow” is known as the “City of Choice”.
The stadium’s media launch took place on Friday with a few guests and athletes in attendance.
Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) southern region president Moses Bantsi, Athletics South Africa president Aleck Skhosana, World Wide Scholarship (WWS) chief executive Munya Maraire, and Pietermaritzburg mayor Temba Njilo were all present to launch this project.
Njilo was extremely excited and positive about the venue.
“The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has given the stadium a Class One accreditation, which is the highest possible rating anywhere in the world. The opening event (on Saturday) will be televised and is a pretty big deal.
“The venue is a great initiative that will only motivate youngsters to take up athletics and inherently serve the greater community,” he said.
Bantsi was also positive about the possibilities.
“This will help us up our game and take it to the next level.
“It will help us develop athletes, coaches and technical staff in the correct manner that will allow us to sell athletics as a product in a way that we never envisaged locally before,” he said.
He also hinted at the stadium and all its offerings helping to improve the economy at large by drawing major athletes and hence fans, even for pre-season training camps, especially with Maritzburg’s climate being conducive to perfect conditions.
He also alluded to the Athletics League evolving into a Diamond League and boosting sports tourism in KZN.
WWS head Maraire echoed his sentiments.