Cash-strapped Bay counting the cost

THEY were supposed to be the legacy gifts to the city – but they turned into the good, the bad and the ugly.

The hope of bringing top-flight soccer and other sporting events to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium also promised a bright future.

But hope does not pay the R13.2-million bill the stadium has incurred since opening its doors in 2009.

The venue hosted a number of successful World Cup matches, including international friendlies.

The stadium's biggest success, however, has been the Super Rugby and HSBC Sevens Rugby tournaments.

Negotiations to relocate a PSL side to Port Elizabeth are ongoing, while there is much excitement around EP Rugby's return to Super Rugby in two years' time.

This, however, means that although more events are expected with the arrival of new soccer and rugby possibilities, the stadium's most profitable year is only set to repeat itself in 2016, meaning that the R13.2-million debt could well have grown before then - Riaan Marais and Tremaine van Aardt