On Thursday, 23 January, the Acting Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Cllr Abel Tau, visited
Pilditch Stadium and Saulsville pump station as part of the Follow The Money
programme.
Pilditch Stadium has the potential to become a world-class facility with capacity to
host international competitions.
However, no international events were held since 2013 due to the poor condition of
the tracks. It remains a mystery why the previous ANC administration neglected such a strategic resource to deteriorate as it has.
Once upgrades are complete, the facility will comply as a Standard International
Association of Athletics Federation Certified Track with eligibility for IAAF approval.
Speaking at the site visit, Cllr Tau said: “The stadium has the potential to spur
economic activity by using it as a national asset for marketing purposes and spur job
creation.” He added that there’s currently 200 people employed at the site to ensure
that upgrades are completed by March 2020.
With upgrades at 90% to completion, the City will finally bid to host the World
Athletics Championships.
Following the Pilditch Stadium visit, he proceeded to Saulsville pump station to
assess progress on its upgrade.
The substation was vandalized, which necessitates the re-design and reconstruction
to ensure optimal operation for the 900 households it serves.
Cllr Tau is pleased to report that overall progress is at 98% to completion with 23
jobs created for the scheduled 18 month period (February 2019 until October 2020).
The DA-led administration looks forward to the completion of these upgrades to
demonstrate that indeed the accelerated service delivery mandate is ingrained in the City