Magesi fans delighted as PSL gives Seshego Stadium the green light 

Seshego Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo, was degenerating into a white elephant until it was recently revamped to meet Premier Soccer League (PSL) requirements. 

The 15 000-capacity venue will reopen its gates on Saturday when the home side, Magesi FC welcome Cape Town City for their Betway Premiership encounter at 3:30pm. 

The Polokwane municipality pumped in R19-million to give the facility a major facelift in response to pleas by local sport legends from Limpopo’s largest township. 

The township and its sporting heritage will provide the perfect backdrop to a stadium that has hosted some of the greatest football geniuses when it was a fortress for the defunct Ria Stars. 

 The stadium also hosted the Great North Softball Association’s flagship tournament the Hansa Classic and other sporting events in the 1990s. 

Sunday World understands that there will be pre-match rituals amid fanfare with traditional music also lined up among other activities. 

Last week, PSL chief opera-tions officer Ronnie Schloss went to Seshego to inspect the venue and found an impressive football arena and gave it the thumbs up. 

“I went there personally to get first-hand information about the stadium. It has undergone a serious makeover.  

“The pitch meets the required standards, and the grandstand can accommodate a reasonable crowd. The fence around the pitch looks brand new and that guarantees the safety of the players,” Schloss said. 

“There are extra gates to the precinct and that will ease the entry of supporters on match days. In trying to meet international standards, the stadium has impressive change rooms and a media gallery where reporters can work from.”  

While Schloss welcomed the prospect of hosting PSL matches in townships which will bring the game closer to the locals, he was cautious of taking teams like Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns to Seshego. 

“We are well aware of the limited capacity of this stadium. In the event of hosting teams with large crowds, an alternative venue will be arranged at the Old or New Peter Mokaba stadiums in the city. We are doing so to avoid a stampede because of space constraints there,” Schloss said.  

Abel Rakoma, Magesi publicist, said the hosting of PSL games in Seshego was long overdue. 

“It’s been years since we have talking of taking big sporting events to the township. Local people want to watch these game in their own neighbourhoods.  

“We are hoping that lady luck will come to us at Seshego because we are not doing well at other stadiums,” Rakoma said.  

News that the stadium has been given the green light to host PSL matches has been widely welcomed across townships and villages around Polokwane. 

Maphuti Meso, one of Magesi’s fanatical fans, said taking the games to Seshego would reduce the trips to Polokwane and that some supporters would be able to walk to the venue.  

“There are many people from surrounding areas who have been struggling to reach Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane due to various challenges. However, the staging of games in Seshego is convenient and we could start seeing many people going to the stadium,” he said. Polokwane executive mayor John Mpe said the municipality has embarked on a campaign to create world-class  
sport facilities.  

“We are happy with the renovations done at the stadium and we intend to do so with other sporting facilities owned by the municipality,” Mpe said.  

“We are also delighted that if a facility like the Seshego Stadium is fully functional, it will have great economic spin-offs for the township economy.” 

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Moyahabo Mabeba