Photo: Facebook
Photo: Facebook
Is it too early to start calling the Lesseyton Stadium ‘The Theatre of Screams‘? The controversial project was unveiled by an ANC municipality in the Chris Hani District of the Eastern Cape this week, but the backlash has been fierce. As it turns out, officials paid R15 milllion for a facility that looks like… well, this….
The ANC’s R15 million stadium branded ‘sub-standard’
The public outcry has persisted through the week, with political heavyweights Floyd Shivambu and Mmusi Maimane slamming the eye-watering price tag. Valued at roughly $1 million dollars, the best that locals in Enoch Mgijima have to show for the investment are a few temporary seats, and a running track that is barely visible.
Not missing an opportunity to stick the boot in, the DA led an oversight visit to the so-called stadium on Thursday – and it got worse: The showpiece clubhouse, which local ANC officials claim took up most of the funding, didn’t even have any running water when local MPL Jane Cowley and DA Federal Chair Helen Zille arrived at the venue.
What should the R15 million stadium ACTUALLY cost?
In a statement issued to the press on Thursday, Cowley revealed that a cost-estimate had been provided to the party, assessing the true value of works done at the Lesseyton Stadium. Needless to say, the final figure DID NOT match the total made public by the ANC on Monday.
- This Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) project was initially tagged at R22.7 million.
- It was eventually slashed to R15 million – but even this R7.7 million reduction doesn’t go far enough.
- Building experts have told the DA that the work done on stadium ‘should only amount to R4.85 million‘.
- A more lenient estimate, which takes into account blasting works and bad weather, values the project at only R6 million.
- Therefore, the final R15 million cost for the Lesseyton Stadium seem completely overpriced.
DA Federal Council Chairperson, Helen Zille, gives feedback after her visit to the shoddy Lesseyton Sports Field in Queenstown, which was built by the ANC-led Enoch Mgijima Municipality at a cost of R15 million. pic.twitter.com/Jdi7ouB5AQ
— DA Eastern Cape (@DAEasternCape) October 7, 2021
ANC municipality facing financial investigation
It’s therefore estimated that the ANC spent THREE TIMES more money on this stadium than it should have done. Cowley, incandescent with what she sees as a waste of state resources, is now calling for a full forensic audit.
“The shabby stadium which municipal officials handed over to community members in Lesseyton on Monday, 4 October 2021, is an insult to the people who live there and has been rejected with the contempt it deserves. The so-called stadium is little more than scaffolding, the field is dry and the hard, and the rugby poles have collapsed.”
“The changing-room facilities also have no running water and, therefore, cannot be used. The DA will insist on a full forensic audit into this R15 million project and other municipal projects which have failed dismally.” | Jane Cowley
