15 Mar 2021

 Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Tumiso Rakgare has called for increased pace of work at the Tsabong Mini Stadium.

During his recent tour of main projects in Kgalagadi related to the ministry, he called for all the necessary paperwork to be completed to ensure that construction of physical structures started as soon as possible.  

He said the project, on a six hectare piece of land, required concerted efforts from all the relevant stakeholders.

Furthermore, he said the mini stadium project was one of the 10 being constructed in various constituencies across the country.

He said there was progress in other constituencies, saying construction of the Bobonong mini stadium was at completion stage.

He appreciated cooperation between the council, government departments and all relevant stakeholders as it was critical to ensuring success of projects.

Such cooperation, he said had helped to reduce costs during the earthworks phase of the Tsabong Mini Stadium, when Kgalagadi District Council carried out the earthworks internally, for P2.1 million as opposed to P6.5 million.

Rakgare stressed the need to fast track the mini stadium projects, saying he leads a population of young people, who did not have the patience, therefore it was important to adhere to project timelines to give the youth the opportunity to use the facilities.

He said the groundbreaking for the project would be done soon.

In an interview, Kgalagadi District Council, chief civil and mechanical services officer, Gabriel Mpofu said the stadium, which was estimated to cost P10 million, was well within course despite challenges.

Mpofu said construction of earth works commenced in September 2020 on virgin land, adding that graders and trucks were on site preparing for the actual construction of a boundary wall, change rooms, ablution blocks and a kiosk.

He revealed that tenders for the construction of the boundary wall, change rooms and ablution blocks had been awarded and the only outstanding component was the kiosk construction tender, which would be awarded tomorrow. 

He said awarded contractors were expected to sign contracts this week. He said earthworks were expected to be 100 per cent complete by April 1, after which construction of buildings shall commence.

He said the biggest challenges were maintenance of machinery, as they had to seek services from Gaborone due to lack of local expertise as well as shortage of water.

Kgalagadi South MP, Sam Brooks said the project would be financed in part through constituency funds. He called on all stakeholders to collectively own the project to ensure that it was completed within schedule. Ends