Buoyed by the automatic promotion of Richards Bay FC to the lucrative Premier Soccer League (PSL), the municipalities under the King Cetshwayo district have wasted no time announcing that over R200-million has been injected to upgrade the Richards Bay Sport Complex to PSL standard.
At the heart of the investment is ensuring that the football outfit plays home matches in the region to attract investment and tourism opportunities. The project will be spearheaded by uMhlathuze local municipality, the second-biggest economy in KwaZulu-Natal.
“We are keeping the PSL updated. The plan is to ensure that the first home match of Richards Bay FC is played at the stadium. The upgrades to the stadium have already begun,” said uMhlathuze mayor Xolani Ngwezi.
The football outfit, commonly known as the Natal Rich Boyz, becomes the only team from the northern KwaZulu-Natal region in the PSL.
In 2017, the now-defunct Thanda Royal Zulu gained promotion to the PSL but the excitement of the locals was short-lived when the owners of the club sold the PSL status to AmaZulu FC.
The acquisition led to the formation of Richards Bay FC, owned by local businessman Jomo Biyela. The political leadership at the time blasted the move as depriving the locals and district of economic spin-offs,.
Ngwezi also hopes that the private sector will come on board.
The Richards Bay Sports Complex has a capacity of 8 000 people, but Ngwezi says that by the time the upgrades are completed it will have a larger capacity.
District mayor Thami Ntuli described the region as a sleeping economic giant, saying in a few years it will surpass Durban as the biggest regional economy.
The rural horse racing event, which has been introduced for the first time this year, is another that has seen throngs of tourists flocking to the area.
“We have a plan for the region and investing in tourism is one of the key pillars of our economic turnaround strategy.
“The football team will help us achieve this goal,” he said.
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