The Cape Town Stadium cost more than R4-billion to build - but the cost of running it appears to be anybody’s guess.
|||Cape Town - The real cost of running Cape Town Stadium appears to be a mystery as financial reports purport that the venue, built for the 2010 World Cup, has recorded a loss of nearly R300-million over a period of three years.
But city officials were quick to point out on Sunday that the figures in the report - signed by both executive director for events in the city Anton Groenewald and the mayoral committee member for the portfolio responsible, Grant Pascoe - may be incorrect.
According to councillor Yagyah Adams, who serves on the city’s finance portfolio committee, the stadium - which cost over R4-billion to build - had losses of more than the R44.6-million a year the city initially reported.
Using figures from a report released at a committee meeting held last Friday, Adams calculated that the operating cost of the stadium from the end of 2009 until June 2013 was projected to be more than R300-million. In contrast, the income generated from the end of 2009 to February 2013 was a mere R35-million.
Chairperson of the Green Point Ratepayers and Residents Association, Bob Goebel, said that if the figures were correct, it was “frightening”. He added that he could not comment without confirming the in- formation and consulting other members of the association.
Deputy mayor Ian Nielson’s office has responded by saying the figures were incorrect and should have been withdrawn.
When questioned on what the correct figures were, the office was unable to respond. It was also unable to explain why the incorrect figures were allowed to circulate and why they had not yet been formally withdrawn.
Kevin Jacoby, chief financial officer for the City of Cape Town, said the financial results for the various financial years were presented in a manner that was unclear.
“It is not possible to determine the true operating results from the tables presented. In order to prevent any confusion... I will review the report and present (it) at the next finance portfolio committee (meeting).”
He added he could not confirm the released calculated operating costs.
“The stadium belongs to all the residents of Cape Town. As such we will continue to explore all avenues in order to make it benefit as many people as possible,” he said.
Mayoral committee member for tourism, events and marketing Grant Pascoe, who also signed off the report, was unable to comment at the time of going to print.
According to the director of the 2010 operations at the stadium, Lesley de Reuck, the report was “pulled back in order to make sure all the numbers were correct”.
However, Adams said he was alarmed by the amount of money wasted and how the meeting dealt with the flawed figures.
According to Adams, no formal withdrawal was made to him.
“We have not been told that the figures are incorrect. They said something may be wrong with them, but no resolution or further action was taken.”
The councillor believes that none of the relevant officials read the report before the meeting, as there were no objections until questions based on the figures in the report emerged.
“Based on the fact that the figures were described by the deputy mayor as inaccurate, what evidence is available to suggest that the figures bantered about in the past are correct?”
According to Adams, a senior finance manager publicly stated in the committee meeting that it was “impossible to unscramble an egg”, insinuating that it was impossible to determine what the stadium’s true cost.
Adams, who said he had been requesting the financial report for over a year, expressed concern about how the figures could be so grossly incorrect.
“What is apparent from this and the time that it took to compile the report is that only a few people actually know the true cost of the stadium expenditure,” he said.
* Concerts bring in loot for stadium
On the entertainment side, Cape Town Stadium has brought in a substantial amount of income by hosting many sold-out music events.
Massive sales were recorded for the Lady Gaga, U2, Linkin Park and Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts.
In addition, next month’s Justin Bieber concert is already sold out.
The stadium also hosted the Kings of Leon, Coldplay and Eagles concerts.
In 2011, the stadium showcased Premier Soccer League matches involving Ajax Cape Town, which drew 107 013 spectators over the season.
Bafana Bafana, has played to two full-house matches at the stadium this year, including a 2014 World Cup qualifier.
Other stadium income generators include film shoots and tours.
Cape Argus