Moses Mabhida Stadium

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Moses Mabhida Stadium
Location Durban, South Africa
Broke ground 2006
Opened 2009
Owner South African Football Association
Surface Grass
Tenants
Capacity 70,000+ (football)
Field dimensions Stadium: 320m x 280m x 45m, Arches: 100m

Moses Mabhida Stadium named after a former General Secretary of the SACP is intended to be a world-class multi-use stadium in Durban, South Africa..[1]

It would be one of the host stadiums for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium has a planned capacity of between 70,000 and 80,000 people. Moses Mabhida Stadium is adjacent to the ABSA Stadium in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct. As part of the city's plans for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Kings Park Soccer Stadium was demolished in late 2006 to make way for the new stadium complex which includes an adjoining indoor arena, sporting museum, sports institute and a new transmodal transport station.

Contents

[edit] Stadium specifics

The stadium is being constructed on the grounds of the Kings Park Soccer Stadium, in the Durban sports precinct.

[edit] Dimensions

Stadium: 320m x 280m x 45m

Arch

A 350 m long free span arch will hold up the roof of the stadium, the top of the arch will rise to 106 m above the pitch. The arch will consist of a 5 x 5 m steel hollow box and will weigh 2 600 tons when complete. A cable car will carry visitors up the middle of the arch, to a viewing platform on the north side. The south side will have a 550-step adventure walk.

Roof

The stadium roof will consist of a 46 000 m², Teflon-coated, glass-fibre membrane attached to the arch by 17 000m of 95mm diameter steel cables.

Bowl

Around the perimeter, 1 750 columns and 216 raking beams will provide the main support. Around the field, 900 m of retaining walls will stretch 8 m high. A total of 1 780 pre-cast concrete seating panels will create the bowl form. There will be over 80 000 m² of floor space within the stadium structure.

Façade

Over 100 columns will surround the stadium. The height of the columns varies around the stadium, but the highest will be 46 m. In total 15 000 m² of façade will surround the stadium. A total of 550 Aluminum fins will fit between the main columns. Perforated metal sheeting will be placed between the aluminum fins, where required.

[edit] Construction progress

Demolition of the existing Kings Park Soccer Stadium which was estimated to cost R2,5-Million (ZAR) has been completed and construction is in progress. According to a February 20th, 2008 report in The Independent Online, "The stadium "is 30 percent finished", and by February 2009, "it would have changed the city's skyline".[2]

Date Phase Description Status
2006-07-08 1 Destruction of existing stadium, southern pavilion. Completed
2006-07-12 2 Destruction of existing stadium, northern pavilion. Completed
2006-07-25 3 Destruction of existing stadium, main pavilion. Completed
2007-04-01 4 Construction begins. Started
2008-03-20 5 Arch construction begins. Scheduled for completion in 3rd quarter
2008-04-?? 6 Aluminum façade construction begins. Scheduled for completion in April 2009
2008-05-?? 7 Roof cable and membrane works begins. Scheduled for completion by the end of the year

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup

The stadium is one of the venues for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and will host five group games, one second round game, one quarter-final and a semi-final match. Some wondered whether Durban actually needed a new stadium and were critical of the new venue, claiming that it would become a "white elephant" after the FIFA World Cup. For example the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo has strenuously opposed the building of this stadium. However, the stadium may be used to bid for future Rugby World Cups and, since it will have an athletic track,future athletic or multi-sport events.

[edit] Naming controversy

On February 1, 2006, KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele was quoted as saying that since the stadium will only be finished in 2009, it was not yet important to decide upon a name. He said: "For now let us refer to it as a new 2010 stadium. The main issue is that KwaZulu-Natal is building a new stadium. The name can be anything. It can be Christmas Tree". eThekwini mayor Obed Mlaba suggested that the stadium may be named Moses Mabhida Stadium.[1]

The Stadium was originally to be named after King Senzangakhona, the father of the Great King Shaka Zulu. The name has since been changed to Moses Mabidha who is largely unknown to the KwaZulu-Natal Region. This name change has come amongst speculation by the Durban public that the IFP's presence and KwaZulu-Natal Historic Figures are being erased from History through various name changes to make way for ANC political and revolutionary figures.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Name changes proposed for Durban
  2. ^ IOL: Finally, a stadium ahead of schedule

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 29°49′30″S, 31°01′47″E

[edit] Moses Mabhida the Man

Moses Mabhida was born near Pietermaritzburg on 14 October 1923, into a peasant family which was later forced off the land. Mabhida was drawn to trade unionism by the late Harry Gwala then an ardent unionist and member of the South African Communist Party, and he also joined the Communist Party in 1942. After many unionists were banned in 1952-1953, his colleagues in the newly revived underground party urged Mabhida to undertake fulltime union work. In the next decade, he organised scores of workers in Natal. He was a central participant in the development of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) and was elected a vice-president at its first congress in 1955. He also served as secretary of the ANC's Pietermaritzburg branch in the mid-1950s, and had a close working relationship with Chief Albert Luthuli. Mabhida became a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) around 1956, and in 1958-1959 was acting chair of the Natal ANC.

A week after the declaration of the 1960 state of emergency, Mabhida was sent abroad by SACTU to represent the organisation internationally. For the next three years he organised international solidarity activities in Prague with the World Federation of Trade Unions, and with the developing African trade union federations. In 1963, following his re-election to the NEC at the ANC's Lobatse conference in October 1962, he was asked by Oliver Tambo to devote himself to the development of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Mabhida then underwent military training; as MK commissar he became the chief political instructor of new military recruits, and later served as the commander of MK. Mabhida's repeated re-election to the NEC, his appointment to the Revolutionary Council on its creation in 1969, and later to the Politico-Military Council which replaced it, reflected his popularity among ANC members.

After Morogoro, in 1969, he was instrumental in setting up the ANC's department of Intelligence and Security. He was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party in November 1979, replacing Moses Kotane who had died the previous year. In the 1980s, Mabhida continued his work with political and logistical planning for MK, based at various times in Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland. In 1985, while on a mission to Havana, Mabhida suffered a stroke, and after a year of illness, died of a heart attack in Maputo and was buried there in March 1986.

South Africans expressed deep appreciation to the leadership of Frelimo and the people of Mozambique for giving a piece of their land that served as a shroud for Moses Mabhida for the past 20 years.

N.B. The above synopsis is taken from a paper issued by the Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government in 30 November 2006 when Moses Mabhida's body was reinterred in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after being brought back from Maputo, Mozambique.