Cape Town - In a month’s time the city council will make a decision on the future of Cape Town stadium, which has been costing ratepayers about R60 million a year in maintenance.
The Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) wants to move to the stadium and has been in negotiations with the city to become the stadium’s anchor tenant.
The WPRU has confirmed that a decision will be taken at a full council meeting scheduled for October 25.
Both parties would not “pre-empt” the outcome of the council meeting, preferring to wait until the decision is made.
“The decision is now in the hands of the city and we will wait until then to know whether or not it’s in our favour,” WPRU president Thelo Wakefield said.
Although the R4 billion stadium has hosted, on average, 81 events a year over the past three years, it has been under-used for years generating little financial value - just under half of what it costs to maintain it.
Events at the stadium over the past three years included the HSBC Rugby Sevens, which took place in 2017, film shoots and concerts.
Wakefield said the WPRU wanted to capitalise on the modern infrastructure of the stadium, which would cut back on maintenance costs on the old Newlands stadium.
“The Cape Town Stadium has the right facilities for both international matches and major local ones. We plan to host Super Rugby and Currie Cup matches there.
“Other countries use big modern stadiums, so this would be in line with the trend,” he said.
Wakefield added that the stadium offered enough parking space and the union would find a way to “navigate” around the smaller number of hospitality suites available at the stadium.
It was not clear how much the move would cost both parties.
Plans to make the stadium, built for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, financially viable had been on the cards for years.
These included amending the zoning conditions for the stadium precinct to enable commercial activities to generate revenue.
The city said it had also implemented various initiatives to improve the business viability of the stadium, including establishing and approving a business plan that defined the “commercialisation” drive.
The process of seeking a naming rights sponsor is also underway.