The Thulamela Municipality's councillors will have to decide on the rent charged for using the Thohoyandou Stadium. Last week, the region's three top soccer teams indicated that they might be forced to use the old Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane, because they could not afford the high tariffs charged for renting the stadium in Thohoyandou.
The municipality's sports manager, Mr Ronald Makhadi, confirmed that the issue has been referred back to the council for a decision. He previously explained that the tariffs for using the stadium were set and, to try and accommodate the teams, they had already allowed a 36% discount. Even with the discount, the rent for the stadium amounts to R27 795 per match.
The Vhembe District currently has three teams competing in the GladAfrica Championship, namely Black Leopards, Venda Football Academy (VFA) and Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM). The three teams are supposed to share the Thohoyandou Stadium as their home ground.
The teams have indicated that they are looking at other options, such as the old Peter Mokaba stadium, where the rent is only R5 000 per match. The teams feel that, with Covid-19 restrictions in place, they have no avenues available to supplement their income and pay the rent.
Black Leopards' communication manager, Mr Tshifhiwa Thidiela, said that the Thulamela Municipality was overcharging the teams, knowing that they could not afford the fees. He said that they had written numerous letters to the municipality, to which they had received no response. Thidiela said that the correct way forward for the municipality would be to invite the teams to make input on the matter before it was discussed by the council.
The interim spokesperson for TTM, Mr Livhuwani Madzuhe, said that they had no other option than to use the Thohoyandou Stadium to play their home matches. He said that they were waiting for the municipality to call them to attend a meeting to discuss the matter. "Maybe they will come up with another tariff which can suit all the teams," he said. Madzuhe said that TTM did not have any sponsor at the moment and the chairperson of the team must pay for all these costs.
Ronald Makhadi said that the issue was now before the council for a decision. He said that a decision would be communicated to the teams within 21 days.
TTM and Venda Football Academy are currently still using the Thohoyandou Stadium for their home matches, but Black Leopards have provisionally relocated to the old Peter Mokaba Stadium.