The Buffalo City Metro in the Eastern Cape has entered into a 20-year deal with Premier Soccer League club Chippa United to lease the Jan Smuts and Buffalo City Stadium for purposes of sports development. With this lease, the stadiums are hoped to bring about an academy for the Metro.
The two stadiums are some of the biggest within the Metro.
With this deal, more Chippa United matches will be played in the Buffalo City Metro. Apart from nurturing talent, it will be a tourism booster.
“This deal will ensure that Chippa remains in the city and plays top-flight football, developing the young talent of the city but over and above that there are economic spin-offs that are derived from this,” says Mayor Xola Pakati.
Club boss, Siviwe Chippa Mpengesi says plans are in place to refurbish these stadiums. “My immediate plans are to bring back order, to beef up security, and just do renovations, get the facility where it was.”
Mpengesi is to pay R3 000 per month for the stadiums. Discussions are also under way to have them renamed.
