S/Phikwe sport facilities face demolition

But all that is on the verge of collapsing. The land where the facilities are located belongs to Selebi-Phikwe Town Council (SPTC) and the 25-year lease has expired. The local authority is moving to take back the land. Area One, which is a stone's throw away from the town centre, housed the volleyball and tennis courts, as well as the swimming pool. The town's mayor, Lucas Modimana told Mmegi Sport that most of the facilities are now white elephants. “When BCL was operational, there were employees who were taking care of them. They renewed the lease but since the mine closed, nobody took on that responsibility. All the sporting facilities are non-operational. You find that some might renew but there are no activities,” he said.

Modimana said the council intends to lease out Makhubu Area Two to a private investor. He said the investor will be running the area as a business entity and will be able to renovate the sporting facilities to their original standard. He explained that the plan is not to grab the land but to get businesses to manage the facilities. “Area One has been leased out to a private company to construct a shopping mall. The project is at an advanced stage and we expect construction to start soon.