Greater Giyani sports centre remain unfinished for a decade. Image: Full View.
(The Post News)– A project that was once hailed as a beacon of community development has turned into a ten-year disappointment. In Greater Giyani, Limpopo, there was promised a R29-million state-of-the-art sports center that now stands as an abandoned, vandalized site, a haunting reminder of wasted potential and failed promises.
A decade after construction began, the center remains incomplete. The grandstand, gates, and fencing are in place, but there are still no changing rooms, toilets, or a football pitch. Broken windows and overgrown weeds dominate the site, while a steady stream of water cuts through what was meant to be a tennis court. Residents say the neglected grounds have become a crime hotspot, with no security presence to protect what’s left.
Project to be Revived
Greater Giyani Municipality spokesperson Steven Mavunda admitted that the funds initially allocated for the project had long been depleted. He said the municipality has now set aside an additional R8.7 million in its 2025/26 budget to try to revive the project, starting with the football pitch so that at least part of the facility can finally be used.
The saga began in March 2015, when Botshabelo Consulting Engineers was contracted to build the Giyani sports center for R25.2 million. The Giyani municipality made several payments for completed work, but when Botshabelo submitted its final invoices in 2019, totalling R6.5 million, the municipality refused to pay, sparking a lengthy court dispute. In August 2023, the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane ordered the Greater Giyani municipality to pay the outstanding amount, including interest and legal costs.
According to Full View, a member of Botshabelo confirmed that the municipality eventually paid the R6.5 million but said no additional funds were available to finish the project. When GroundUp visited the site, it found it overrun with bushes and no guards in sight. “We hope the government will take action and complete the stadium,” said resident Nkateko Maluleke.
Despite the damage and decay, Mavunda maintained that security was unnecessary, claiming “nothing remains to be destroyed.” For many in Giyani, however, the real loss is not the crumbling infrastructure; it is the community dream that never came to life.
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