Chippa United boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi has spent R10-million to revitalise the Buffalo City Stadium in East London after acquiring a 20-year lease, and plans to turn it into a home for continental associations that are struggling to get Caf approved venues.
The Chilli Boys owner wants to make the venue commercially viable, and part of his plan is to accommodate African countries and clubs whose stadiums have been banned by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) because they do not meet the required standards.
This season, Chippa will play most of their home games in East London, and then host night matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
The Buffalo City Municipality’s (BCM) R33-million deal with the PSL club will result in Chippa hosting seven games in the 2024/25 season. For every match, the club will receive in the region of R1.5-million from the municipality.
Mpengesi plans to approach Caf to approve the stadium and give it the green light so that various clubs and national teams in the continent can rent out the venue as an alternative.
Mpengesi said he had spent more than R10-million on the renovations of the stadium and that they had also increased the capacity from 16 000 to 20 000.
His elaborate plan is to make the stadium profitable.
Caf has banned about 17 stadiums and member associations across the continent “for not meeting the required standards to host Caf A Type competitions”.
Some of the prohibited stadiums in the SADC region include Zimbabwe’s National Stadium; Namibia’s Independence Stadium and the Sam Nujoma Stadium; the Mavuso Sports Centre (Eswatini); the Kamuzu Stadium (Malawi) and the Setsoto Stadium in Lesotho.
As a result, the countries and clubs have resorted to using South African stadiums as alternative grounds. Lesotho have used Dobsonville Stadium, the Moses Mabhida in Durban and the Orlando Stadium (both in Soweto), while Namibia also played their recent Afcon qualifier against Kenya at Orlando.
Eswatini’s Mbabane Swallows honoured their Caf Champions League match against Mamelodi Sundowns in Atteridgeville, at the Lucas Moripe Stadium last night.
“We have our own stadium – we are the only team with a PSL-accredited stadium. We will play most of the games at the Buffalo City in East London now. I have a lease there and I spent my own money in renovating this stadium that I now call home,” Mpengesi said.
“I spent more than R10-million. It was an abandoned stadium, and I fixed it. We will still play some of our big matches in Gqeberha. We took our DStv Diski Challenge team out of Gqeberha because there are no facilities. Most of our fans are also in East London and the stadiums are always full there. You must remember that it is closer to the old Transkei, where we have a big following. Gqeberha is a bit far.
“Other clubs rely on municipalities funding but we want to make the stadium profitable and to sustain the club. We want Caf to approve it to host their competitions. Many African clubs and countries are struggling to find stadiums and this stadium is now in a very good condition. We will be inviting Caf to come and inspect the stadium soon.”
Buffalo City officials were not available to shed more light on these latest developments.
Said BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya: “The agreement is for 20 years, and the lease extension option comes into play after 20 years. I am not able to tell you how much Mpengesi has spent on the stadium but part of the deal was that he will do improvements as he saw fit. He has exclusive rights and if people want to rent out the stadium they will then negotiate with the tenants (Chippa).”
