On a glorious spring afternoon, with YesPlay Newlands looking close to its finest, luminaries from Cricket South Africa (CSA), The National Lotteries Commission (NLC), The Western Cape Government (WCG) and The Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) celebrated the generous grant of R65,645,092.30 received for stadium upgrades from the NLC.
WPCA CEO Corrie van Zyl led the dignitaries through Newlands to showcase the impact that the NLC’s money, CSA’s nationwide stadium upgrades of close to R300m and the WCG’s R7.5m have already made at this iconic stadium.
Starting at the new Reception, the tour took us through the changing room, umpires room, sound system, scoreboard and scorers room upgrades, as well as explaining that all the seats in the stadium have been replaced.
The upgrades are impressive, as is all the work that has been done in painting and upgrading the stands and suites. Van Zyl is confident that the work to get the stadium ready for the Australia Test Match starting on Tuesday 27th October will be complete. He explains that the new electronic scoreboard at The Oaks will be ready for the Barmy Army’s visit in January.
The tour finished, it was time to turn to the speeches, led by newly elected President of the WPCA Dr De Vries Basson. He emphasized the value of partnerships, and both individual and collective commitment to achieving the ultimate goal of delivering not only an outstanding ICC Men’s World Cup in 2027, but the legacy that the partnerships with the NLC and WCG will leave for the generations to come.
Cricket South Africa CEO Pholetsi Moseki was effusive in his praise for the NLC’s contribution and gave his assurance that CSA would be a prudent steward. He thanked both the NLC and the WCG for their support to “Deliver a World Cup that South Africa can be proud of and the World will marvel at”.
It was then the turn of the Chairperson of the NLC, King Tembinkosi Bonakele to take to the podium. The key themes of teamwork, stakeholder engagement and stewardship were reiterated. He was clear in terms of the encouraging nature of the visit, and the progress that is evident, showing that the money is being well spent. Both the NLC and CSA’s senior leadership are well aware of the governance issues that beset both organizations.
The R65.6m grant comes with no strings attached, but Bonakele importantly stated that projects need to be achieved, have to take the nation forward and are not merely around bricks and mortar, with the fundamental aim one of development. He finished by thanking CSA and the WCG for their commitment to building a legacy beyond 2027.
NLC Chair King Tembinkosi Bonakele and WCG Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Ricardo Mackenzie, regaled us with his own experience of the generosity of receiving tickets to see the Springboks play Romania in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. This theme was explored more with him in a later interview, where he once again emphasized that he is already working closely with the WPCA to ensure these opportunities become available to young cricket fans during next year’s showpiece.
His focus is very much around the future and what 2027’s World Cup can mean for the children of tomorrow. He spoke about a key WCG libraries project underway with NLC support that he believes is a vehicle for integration with sport and the World Cup in particular.
The last photo opportunity is for the handover of a very large cheque from Bonakele to Moseki, with NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz and CSA’s CFO Tjaart van der Walt on hand to ensure that every last cent (30 of them according to the cheque) is accounted for.
There is an opportunity to chat to Bonakele, Mackenzie and Moseki individually after the formalities, and they give some clarity about how they believe the partnerships will work. Moseki confirms that the wish-list from the hosting unions got them to the multi-million ask, while Bonakele reconfirms that they believe, and have the evidence, that CSA is an organization that has shaken off its tarnished reputation. Both CSA and the NLC are keen to make this work, to showcase that Lottery funds can and will be spent wisely, will deliver on the promises and will create the legacies that they so keenly seek.
Moseki returns during the discussion to how quickly reputations and trust can be lost, and how long it takes to rebuild them. For CSA this rebuild is gathering pace, both on and off the field. One feels the NLC needs a good news story, and going into bat for cricket could be just that.
