Decades of neglect and broken promises ruin ‘the diamond of Krugersdorp’

More than twenty years ago, residents of Krugersdorp in Gauteng were promised a R1.2 billion upgrade to their crown jewel, the Bob van Renen sports facility.

However, its gates have been closed to the public since 2005, and the community is still waiting for the promised improvements to the facility.

For years, the sports complex was a vibrant hub for sports competitions, including rugby, athletics, bowls, cycling, boxing, karate, squash, and gymnastics.

With its roots tracing back to the late 1940s, it was the community’s pride, playing a pivotal role in elevating South African sporting talent.

This includes when sprinting legend Paul Nash equalled the 100-metre world record of 10 seconds on the Olympic-approved track in 1968.

Beyond its historic moments, the facility was deeply woven into the fabric of the community, serving schools, universities, and other aspiring athletes who dreamed of winning gold.

However, today, it lies abandoned and crumbling. It is a stark symbol of two decades of neglect and broken promises.

“The complex was once the heartbeat of Krugersdorp, alive with energy, especially on weekends,” said a lifelong resident recalling its former glory.

“From athletics to cycling, rugby, and cricket, there was always sport going on. To see it now, abandoned and broken, is nothing short of heartbreaking.”

The Mogale City Municipality, which is the custodian of the sports complex, announced plans to give it a facelift in the early 2000s.

At the same time, local football giant Kaizer Chiefs was searching for a permanent home venue.

An agreement between the club and the municipality led to a proposed R695 million, 55,000-seater “Amakhosi Stadium,” boasting extensive sporting facilities, cricket and rugby stadiums, a sports hotel and a retail shopping centre.

Mogale City, Kaizer Chiefs, project developer Lefika Emerging Equity, and the Gauteng provincial government entered a 99-year lease agreement. Basil Read was appointed contractor.

Speaking at the project’s launch, former executive mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane described it as “a life-changing development for Mogale City, Gauteng and South Africa.”

Never got off the ground

Lefika was controlled by three businessmen: Bobby Motaung, manager of Kaiser Chiefs football club, Herbert Theledi, a businessman with powerful provincial connections, and Chris Grib, a minority shareholder in Lefika and CEO.

Chiefs was set to take a 20% ownership stake and said that they would move into their new home by December 2008.

Construction was expected to begin in July 2006, and users of the numerous facilities were chased away.

While some things were bulldozed, no bricks were laid.

At this time, Lefika received the R1.2 billion contract for the Mbombela Stadium—a matter that eventually led to the bosses’ arrests for alleged tender fraud, but charges were later dropped by the NPA “due to lack of evidence.”

By March 2007, project stakeholders were in talks with World Cup organisers to secure the stadium’s status as an official training venue for 2010.

This required updates to meet FIFA standards, significantly increasing estimated costs to R1.2 billion.

In 2008, the Mail & Guardian reported that Lefika delayed the construction of the Kaizer Chiefs stadium because it could not raise the necessary capital.

Kaiser Chiefs wrote in a press statement that the Gauteng Provincial Government was not a financial partner but pledged to improve road and rail access and build a parking facility for 3,000 vehicles, which they said was completed through a tender.

The initial completion date of December 2008 was then postponed to June 2010.

Then, in 2010, the project was redesigned into a scaled-down version, reducing the budget back to around R700 million, capacity from 55,000 to 35,000 seats, and pushing completion dates further back.

The revised plan divided the project into two phases: the stadium and, later, additional facilities, including a cricket field, rugby stadium, sports hotel, and retail center.

Still, Lefika said that they could not raise the capital needed.

Despite years of public anticipation, construction at the Bob van Renen Stadium never began, and interest quietly faded.

Government eyes revival

The municipality eventually took back full control from its lessees, promising to revive the facility as a multipurpose sports hub and high-performance training centre.

In his 2013 State of the City Address, Mayor Seerane announced that the province would spend R10 million on the restoration, with Mogale City contributing R5 million.

The long-term goal, he said, was to transform it into the Gauteng Sports Village to accomodate all sporting codes.

Between 2020 and 2024, various budgets and Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) proposed substantial funds for renovations: R2 million for 2020/21, R12.06 million for 2021/22, R5.45 million for 2022/23, and R2 million for 2023/24.

However, the city’s more recent IDPs removed these allocations entirely.

Mogale City spokesperson Adrian Amod told BusinessTech that a total of R9,710,323 has to date has been spent by the city on renovations since the project commenced in 2006.

“The budget previously approved, allocated, and spent by the Gauteng Provincial Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation remains unknown to the Municipality, as the Provincial Department entirely managed the procurement process,” said Amod.

He said that no funding was transferred to the Municipality for expenditure on the project.

Looking at provincial funds, in 2013, then-Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said that her administration would “focus on the reconstruction of the Bob van Renen Sports Stadium in Mogale City.”

In his 2013/14 budget speech, former Gauteng MEC for Finance Mandla Nkomfe said that “an amount of R15 million has been allocated to the refurbishment.”

National Treasury documents show that during the 2013/14 financial year, the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation received an allocation of R10 million.

They also received R20 million in 2014/15 “to restore the stadium to acceptable functionality standards.”

In his 2014/15 budget speech, Nkomfe announced “R314 million over the MTEF to implement the archive project and the final phase of the renovation.”

“This stadium will serve as a multi-purpose sport hub and a high-performance training centre,” he said.

However, in the 2015 provincial audit, the Auditor-General flagged the project for financial irregularities.

One contractor was paid R9.8 million, with an unexplained R8.6 million adjustment.

The AG said the work completed did not match the amount paid and called the original six-month contract timeline “unrealistic,” noting the job should’ve taken just two weeks.

Another contractor received R19.8 million for phase three, plus an extra R2.7 million. Though paid for a geotechnical investigation, no report was found—nor was one necessary for a refurbishment, according to the AG.

BusinessTech repeatedly attempted to get responses from the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, but to no avail.

Amod said that “construction stalled due to a lack of available funding, which has made it impossible for the Municipality to proceed with further work towards the fully required refurbishment and completion of the stadium.”

The current state of the facility, Amod said, is due to ongoing vandalism, natural wear and tear, and theft over the years, largely due to the stadium not being in active use.

“The municipality has always wanted to revive the facility and is looking at reviving the stadium as part of the greater plan to revive the Inner-City/CBD area,” he said.

The city spokesperson stated that because of the project’s scope and necessary funding, it has been identified and packaged as one of several municipal projects seeking investment.

BusinessTech visit

BusinessTech visited the long-abandoned Bob van Renen Stadium and found no signs of improvement despite millions in taxpayer funding.

A lone security guard, stationed at the gate, denied us access, claiming that recent attention from an MP’s oversight visit—which “made everything look bad”—led the municipality to block all entry.

Undeterred, we scaled the fence to witness the decay firsthand. The once-proud sports facility is now overrun with vegetation.

An Olympic-standard athletics track is waterlogged and sprouting reeds, while the famed cycling track lies in similar disrepair.

The rugby and cricket fields resemble a savannah, surrounded by crumbling buildings.

There have been numerous community-led clean-up initiatives.

However, these campaigns have been described as putting a band aid on a bullet wound – temporary beautifications that mask the underlying rot.

Several years ago, AfriForum had proposed that its company, Pionier, approached the municipality to hand over the stadium for them to refurbish. However, this never materialised and the stadium fell back into its dire state.

“It pains me to see this iconic venue in ruins,” said local DA ward councillor Mark Trump. “Its neglect has devastated our community—impacting local business, sports, culture, and youth development.”

Trump stressed that the stadium is more than just municipal infrastructure. “It’s a community treasure. Mogale City must take responsibility for its restoration in a way that’s transparent and serves the people.”

“After two decades of broken promises and squandered potential, the stadium stands as a stark reminder of mismanagement and missed opportunities,” he added.

Images of the sports complex in 2025