The biggest stadiums and arenas in South Africa – and Ramaphosa says another one is on the way

·7 Aug 2023

South Africa already boasts several large stadiums and arenas, with another large arena on the horizon.

Cape Town has successfully hosted the Netball World Cup – a first for Africa – and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that a new Netball-centred arena will be built to expand the sport in the country.

“One of the things that’s been said…is that we need to ensure that netball grows in South Africa. To enable it to grow, we must build netball facilities throughout the country,” Ramaphosa said.

“I’m happy to say that your closing ceremony is on Women’s Month here in South Africa. So therefore, the gift that we are going to give to the women of South Africa and also the women around the world is to build a netball arena. We are going to do it.”

This new arena will add to the plethora of large venues that South Africa has for sporting and cultural events.

Stadiums are open-air or partially-covered venues which can host crowds of up to 100,000. Arenas, on the other hand, are indoor-only areas that generally host up to 25,000 people.

After being built for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the FNB Stadium – FKA Soccer City – is the largest stadium in South Africa, with a capacity of close to 95,000.

Also in Johannesburg, Emirates Airline Park is the second biggest stadium in South Africa, with a capacity of over 60,000.

Looking at the top 10 biggest stadiums in South Africa, two are strange states.

South Africa’s third-biggest stadium, the bizarrely-designed Mmabatho Stadium in Mahikeng, North West, is currently unused.

“Many building and event experts have long argued that Mmabatho Stadium is not viable as a public facility. That message was hammered home in 2010, two decades after it was built. Not only was it snubbed by Fifa as a venue for the first World Cup on African soil, but it was also not good enough to be a training venue for the global showpiece that pitted 32 of the world’s best teams,” New Frame reported.

Additionally, the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town was supposed to be sold and redeveloped – with the Stormers/Western Province even relocating its home ground to the DHL stadium.

However, former Springbok Wynand Claassen has engaged in a court process to declare the stadium a heritage site which would stop any demolition – leaving the stadium in a state of limbo.

Below are the ten biggest stadiums in South Africa:

Rank	Stadium	Location	Capacity
1	FNB Stadium	Johannesburg, Gauteng	94 730
2	Emirates Airline Park	Johannesburg, Gauteng	62 560
3	Mmabatho Stadium	Mahikeng, North West	59 000
4	DHL Stadium	Cape Town, Western Cape	55 000
5	Moses Mabhida Stadium	Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal	54 000
6	Kings Park Stadium	Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal	52 000
7	Loftus Versfeld	Pretoria, Gauteng	51 760
8	Newlands Stadium	Cape Town, Western Cape	51 100
9	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	Gqeberha, Eastern Cape	48 460
10	Royal Bafokeng Stadium	Rustenburg, North West	42 000

Regarding the indoor arena, the Time Square Sun Arena in Pretoria and the Durban ICC Arena are the biggest arenas in South Africa, with standing capacities of 10,000.

Previously, the Ticketpro Dome in Johannebsurg was the largest arena in South Africa due to its 20,000 capacity. It was sold in 2021 and is now used as a massive second-hand car showroom.

Like with the list of stadiums, the third biggest arena in South Africa, the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town, has entered into a state of disrepair.

As reported by TygerBurger, the Vedorome and its surrounding area are in a strange state after the City of Cape Town and developer Devmet parted ways over a R3 billion upmarket development for the arena.

The Velodrome has often been referred to as a white elephant over the last decade as it is no longer being used as much for sports and concerts due to rising security concerns in the area.

Many concerts and sporting events in Cape Town are thus conducted in the slightly smaller GrandWest Arena.

The seven biggest arenas in South Africa are listed below:

Rank	Arena	Location	Capacity
1	Time Square Sun Arena	Pretoria, Gauteng	10 000
2	Durban ICC Arena	Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal	10 000
3	Bellville Velodrome	Cape Town, Western Cape	8 000
4	GrandWest Arena	Cape Town, Western Cape	7 000
5	Ellis Park Arena	Johannesburg, Gauteng	6 300
6	Sun City Superbowl	Sun City, North West	6 000
7	Big Top Arena	Brakpan, Gauteng	5 000