National Stadium costs extra P8 million

Additionally, the ministry fired some employees over the blunder, which has kept the 23,000-seater closed for nearly five years. Permanent secretary (PS) Dikagiso Mokotedi said this during a media briefing at the stadium in Gaborone yesterday.

The facility was closed for renovations in 2008, but completion was delayed after the government refused to accept a pitch, which was draining poorly. New works on the pitch are expected to be completed in June, bringing to a close a saga, which threatened to spill to the courts and leave the nation seething.