Media statement
4 October 2023
The City of Tshwane has engaged in fruitful ongoing discussions with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) about the availability of the former Pretoria Showgrounds facility for use as the Election Result Centre.
The IEC is well aware of the state of the facility, which was transferred back to the City from the former owner Tshwane Business and Agricultural Chamber (TshwaBAC) in 2020.
Both parties are working towards having the facility in a functional state in time to host the 2024 national and provincial elections results centre.
The vision of the City is to turn the Pretoria Showgrounds land into a mixed-use commercial precinct and attract a hotel, conferencing, retail, small offices, etc. This land was previously leased to TshwaBAC by the City. It is unfortunate that during the lease period, the chamber incurred a debt of R10 million for rates and water. As part of the settlement, the City re-acquired the property from the chamber and wrote off the debt.
For the commercial precinct to be realised, some land preparation has to take place, which includes rezoning. Once the City’s Economic Development and Spatial Planning Department has approved the rezoning, a developer will be brought on board to conceptualise a vision for the precinct.
The objective of the City is to commercialise the land and optimise its revenue value in terms of rentals. To this end, Council approved a 50-year lease for the land in question in 2022.
To keep the asset operational in the intermediate period, work is being done in earnest to ascertain whether refurbishments can begin before the end of this year. The City is engaging various stakeholders who have displayed interest in leasing portions of the land. The City is in the process of finalising a five-year lease with interested stakeholders.
The City is seriously concerned by vandals who have taken advantage of the premises being unoccupied, which has resulted in the current dilapidated state of the structure. In short, there are a series of measures in place to keep the asset running and to keep vandals at bay while the 50-year lease and long-term plan are being cobbled together.
Issued by Communication, Marketing and Events.