Stadia upkeep costly for BNSC
The maintenance of stadia is too expensive for the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and some of the facilities could be privatised.
Speaking during a press conference this week, BNSC attorney Tumisang Hule said they spent P1.5 million on the bucket seats at the National Stadium’s Panda stand.
He said there was extra work as the old seats, which were still in good condition, were used to fill the blanks in other stands at a cost of around P88,659. “The CCTV cameras were installed at a cost of around P201,000 and another P283,700 to purchase bulbs for the National Stadium and the Obed Itani Chilume in Francistown. We spent P36,700 to rehabilitate the lawn in the National Stadium. This was a job for the past three months,” he said. Over P1 million was spent on water reticulation at Molepolole Sports Complex but the problem is not yet solved. The artificial lawn at the facility is yet to be replaced.
BNSC CEO Tuelo Serufho said they want to change the way they are managing stadiums. He said at the moment they depend on government for everything.
“The time has arrived for naming rights of some of the stadiums to be sold to the private sector. The company will also be responsible for maintenance. Even if it is not about the issue of naming rights,
we should privatise maintenance of some of the facilities that we have,” he said.
He said they have had a concern about vandalism at the National Stadium, where football supporters removed bucket seats. Serufho warned that they have installed cameras around the stadium.
Serufho said they want to host continental football showpiece, AFCON 2027 but they do not have stadiums. “Besides hosting AFCON, our
stadiums are not in good condition. I will be quick to concede that we have challenges. The Masunga Sport Complex has been closed for a while because it is in a bad state and it will put patrons at risk if they continued using it. The Molepolole Stadium was also closed for a while and recently opened but all the work that we desired to do is not complete,” he said. Serufho said most of the time, the blame is piled on government but the state has done its part by building the facilities. He said it should not be the responsibility of the government alone to build and maintain facilities.
“In other countries like England, the government does not maintain stadiums. They are owned and managed by clubs. Even in South Africa most of the stadiums are also not maintained by government, the private sector has taken over. In Botswana, we do not see the involvement of individuals and the private sector,” he said.
He said in the long-term, if they want to win the rights to host AFCON 2027, massive improvements will be made to the National Stadium. “The improvements that we have made at the National Stadium, I am confident it will pass CAF inspection to host national team activities. That does not mean the facility is at the standard that I want but resources are limited,” he said.
Serufho said they have done some improvements at the Lobatse Stadium but there is still a lot of work to be done.
He said they have invited CAF to inspect the facility and they are hopeful that Lobatse will get certification to host club championships. Serufho said they do not want to see a repeat of what happened during the Gaborone United CAF fixture against AS Vita from DRC.
“We will continue leasing out our facilities to churches and music festival promoters, not because we do not like sport but the money from those activities will assist us to improve our facilities,” Serufho said.