Pretoria - The rundown buildings at the old Pretoria showgrounds, now known as the Tshwane Events Centre, will probably undergo a facelift in order to be used as the Elections Results Centre in next year’s general elections.
This was indicated by the City this week after criticism by the EFF in Tshwane that structures at the centre, on WF Nkomo and Soutter streets, were dilapidated after being neglected by the municipality.
The Pretoria News reported in May last year, that the centre, valued at R500 million, was vandalised, with almost every electric cable stolen, leaving the place in the dark and forcing security guards to use torches during their night patrols. Some windows were broken, and other buildings were door-less due to theft of aluminium materials, such as door handles.
This week, EFF regional leader Obakeng Ramabodu expressed disappointment regarding the poor condition, with sewage spills, tall grass, broken toilets, and vandalised buildings.
Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the municipality was in discussions with the Independent Electoral Commission on the utilisation of the facility as the elections results centre next year.
“The IEC is well aware of the state of the facility, which was transferred back to the City from the former owner, Tshwane Business and Agricultural Chamber (TshwaBAC), in 2020,” he said.
Mashigo said both parties were working towards having the facility in a functional state in time to host the national and provincial elections results centre.
“The vision of the City is to turn the Pretoria “showgrounds” land into a mixed-use commercial precinct and attract a hotel, conferencing, retail and small offices, etc. This land was previously leased to TshwaBAC by the City. It is unfortunate that during the lease period, the chamber incurred a debt of R10m for rates and water. As part of the settlement, the City re-acquired the property from the chamber and wrote off the debt,” Mashigo said.
He said for the commercial precinct to be realised, some land preparation had to take place, which included rezoning.
Mashigo said once the City Planning Department had approved the rezoning, a developer would conceptualise a vision for the precinct.
“The objective of the City is to commercialise that land, and optimise its revenue value in terms of rentals. To this end, council approved a 50-year lease for the land in question in 2022. In the intermediate period, to keep the asset operational, work is in earnest to ascertain that refurbishments begin before the end of this year,” he said.
The City is engaging various stakeholders with an interest in leasing portions of the land.
“The City is finalising a 5-year period lease with the interested stakeholders. The City is seriously concerned about vandals who have taken advantage of the place being unoccupied, which has resulted in the dilapidated state of the structure. In short, there are a series of measures in place to keep the asset running and keep vandals at bay while the 50-year lease long-term plan is being cobbled together,” Mashigo said.
The council approved a report for the facility to be turned into a mixed-use commercial precinct comprising a hotel, conference facility, and residential, commercial and exhibition use in July last year. According to the report, the envisaged development would require more than R1.5 billion in investment.
For years, the property was leased to prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering church, which paid between R800 000 and R1 million a month to use it.
Pretoria News