R21-million stadium in Limpopo left incomplete and abandoned

A sports stadium at Tshivhuyuni has already cost taxpayers at least R10.4-million. But it has not been completed and stands abandoned. Photos: Thembi Siaga

• Makhado Municipality in Limpopo has cancelled a R21-million contract for the Tshivhuyuni sports stadium after the contractor abandoned the project.
• The contractor, Gombamemi Risk and Event Management, has had to pay R250,000 in penalties for delays to the project.
• Subcontractors say they have been left unpaid since December 2023.
• This has dashed the local community’s dreams of hosting sports events and economic benefits.

The construction of the Tshivhuyuni Sports Facility, about 35km southeast of Louis Trichardt, began in August 2023 and was meant to take six months and cost a total of R21-million.

But in January this year, the main contractor, Gombamemi Risk and Event Management, who had already been paid R10.4-million, abandoned the site. The Makhado Municipality has since terminated the contract, and a new tender has now been advertised.

The municipality has imposed penalties on Gombamemi for delaying the project. R250,000 in penalties have been paid, said municipal spokesperson Mpho Rathando.

When GroundUp visited the site on 24 February, all construction had stopped. There was only a security guard present. The concrete palisade fence was collapsing. The stadium area was waterlogged.

Rathando says the project was 58% complete by September 2024, in line with the portion of the budget that has been spent.

To make way for the stadium, an eight-roomed house was bulldozed on the promise that the family would receive a new home. Construction has started but it is incomplete. The family of more than eight people is now living with grandparents. They did not wish to be quoted or named.

“Construction [of the house] will resume once a new contractor is appointed,” Rathando said.

A subcontractor, who wished to remain anonymous, said he and four others were still owed money by Gombameni since December 2023.

The subcontractor said the managing director of Gombamemi, Thomas Muluvhu, claimed he had not been paid by the municipality. But Rathando said the municipality made all the required payments to Gombamemi.

The subcontractor said, “It hurts because I was expecting that payment to pay my workers. I had to use my own money. And now it’s been nine months without being paid. One worker even took me to the CCMA last year. We’ve suffered enough because of this project.”

Another subcontractor said he was still owed over R90,000.

Muluvhu declined to comment on the project. “This matter forms part of an investigation, and I am not in a position to respond,” he told GroundUp. Rathando says there is no investigation the municipality is aware of.

Rathando said the remaining work on the project included finalising the sports fields; completing earthworks; planting grass on the soccer and rugby fields; installing an irrigation system, borehole and septic tank; finishing the palisade fence; electrifying the facility; completing the ablution blocks, change rooms, plumbing and ceilings; constructing a guardhouse and building an outdoor gym with “indigenous games facilities”.

Reckson Mashamba, spokesperson for the Mashamba Traditional Council, said the community had hoped to host sports events to boost the local economy. Local vendors had expected to sell their wares at the stadium.

They are left disappointed but still hope the stadium will be completed.

An unusable, water-logged field where the stadium was supposed to be built.

Published with Limpopo Mirror.

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