At a press conference held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this afternoon, Executive Mayor Lobishe referred to the reported ‘termination’ of the MBDA’s mandate over the stadium as a normal ‘review’ process that was underway.
THIS, in contrast to what The Herald reported earlier and what SARU have just said in their press release:
“Business as usual” for Nelson Mandela Bay Test
Media are advised that SA Rugby has engaged with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality following reports that the authority had terminated the mandate of the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) to manage the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
A spokesperson said: “We have received assurances that it is business as usual for Saturday’s Castle Lager Incoming Series Test against Italy and, indeed, our 09h00 operations meeting with the venue staff today went ahead as per normal.
“We have no concerns in any way that the match will be effected and will make no further comment on the matter.”
Uppermost in the minds of all of us ‘lower paygrade’ persons are these questions:
- Will current contracts be honoured
- Will the current staff retain their employment at the stadium.
We asked Acting City Manager, Ted Pillay to answer the above two questions and his response was that all current contracts and employment contracts will not be affected.
What happens after the Springboks v Italy game is anyone’s guess, though.
Many people are telling me that this is just a ploy by the ANC to regain full power in the 2026 Local Elections – so, if anyone can explain how they will use the stadium to accomplish that then please feel free to school me and people far above my paygrade.
