The chickens of the World Cup have come home to roost. With the exception of the FNB Stadium (Soccer City) in Soweto, cash-strapped municipalities who own the multimillion-rand stadiums built for the World Cup face imminent disaster as the structures look set to become redundant.
Both SA Rugby and Cricket SA have explained to Parliament their reasons why it was not possible for them to move rugby and cricket matches to the new stadiums, saying the discussions of this week should have been held before the stadiums were built.
South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins said he had written in 2007, before the new stadiums were built, to the minister of sport, saying he foresaw major problems.
"I asked for the intervention of the ministry. Unfortunately, we were all taken up by the soccer World Cup, and in the hype we forgot we should have been talking to each other," Hoskins told the sports portfolio committee.
This week, the Sharks and Stormers rugby franchises were defiant: they are unlikely to move from their current stadiums into one of the World cup stadiums for the impending Super 15 competition.
Western Province Rugby president Tobie Titus said an independent financial adviser had advised them to stay at Newlands.
This means that the Cape Town Stadium, which could cost R46.5m a year to maintain, could stand empty for most of the year.
In Durban, there had been no discussions between the city and rugby representatives before the Moses Mabhida Stadium was built. It does not have enough suites to accommodate Sharks suite holders.
Cricket SA chief executive Gerald Majola told the committee that pitches at the stadiums - except Moses Mabhida - were too small to host cricket games. He blamed this on the failure of cities to consult cricket authorities before construction got under way.
He said Cricket SA had been forced to seek special permission from the International Cricket Council to host a Twenty20 game between South Africa and India at the Moses Mabhida Stadium early next year, but this was a one-off.
He pointed to a lost opportunity for cricket to move to World Cup stadiums in Rustenburg, Polokwane and Nelspruit.
Majola said if the stadiums had been suitable, CSA could have made space for an annual tournament such as the popular Indian Premier League.
The Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane would need R10 million to R70m for maintenance a year, and municipal officials there said they would appoint a private company to manage the stadium.
A month before the World Cup kick-off, they were optimistic that the company would generate enough money to prevent the cost of maintaining the stadium becoming a burden on ratepayers.
At the time, Mbombela municipality spokesman Ronnie Moyo said the council had not yet approved the document of cost implications for the stadium in Nelspruit.
Hoskins said all the problems threatened to make South Africa a laughing stock.
"We want to use the new stadiums," he said. "We want to take the game to the people, but these issues are going to stand in our way in a big way."
But as rugby fans prepare for the first international match in Soweto between the Springboks and New Zealand's All Blacks this afternoon, officials at the FNB Stadium have nothing to stress about.
"There are so many things planned for the stadium," an official said. "We have a list that includes rugby and soccer matches, major concerts and even international movies."