Share

Cape Town official resigns after soccer cup loss

Cape Town - Money lost because of the recent Cape Town Cup soccer tournament has led to the resignation of Anton Groenewald, the City of Cape Town's executive director of tourism, events and marketing.

The inaugural Cape Town Cup, which took place at the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point on 24 and 26 July, was marketed on the City's website as "an event that will set the Mother City alight with two international teams challenging two PSL teams in a two-day double-header football extravaganza".

Ticket prices originally ranged from R200 to R400 for the double-headers, but was drastically reduced closer to the match dates.

Councillor Garreth Bloor, mayoral committee member for tourism, events and economic development, told Fin24 on Wednesday that Groenewald, to his credit, realised that the leadership of the City is held to account when money is lost. That is why he resigned.

ANC reacts

On Wednesday afternoon the ANC in the Western Cape issued a statement in which it said the Cape Town Cup "fiasco" must be laid squarely at the DA’s door.

The ANC claimed about R30m was wasted "to stage an open-air soccer spectacle slap-bang in the middle of the coldest period of winter and the regional raining season".

ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman said in his view the resignation of Groenewald is "to take the fall for his political overlords".

“This is a massive abuse of taxpayer money by the DA under the direct oversight of the mayor and at least her mayoral committee member. They are politically accountable for the mess. How many houses could be built or facilities upgraded with this money?" asked Fransman.

Teething problems

According to Bloor the Cape Town Cup was a successful event in many ways. The standard of soccer was high, the games were thrilling, the crowd enjoyed themselves "and many people visited our world-class stadium for the first time".

"This was a unique event in many ways. Teething problems are to be expected. We will learn from them and look forward to the next event as we continue our efforts to make Cape Town the events capital of Africa."

"We envisaged the event to be a catalyst for a significant increase in local, national and international tourist numbers. This premise was based on the Manchester United match that the City hosted in 2012 which was a resounding success," said Bloor.

The plan, from the outset, was to grow the tournament into an annual event and to include other international and local teams.
 
"Our predictions and indications were to the contrary, namely that there was sufficient demand. We were responsive to the ticket price, but this simply underpinned a fact that without sponsorship or significant lower appearance fees, perhaps international football should be restricted to Bafana Bafana games," said Bloor.
 
Bloor said a full evaluation of the Cape Town Cup will be done and an informed decision made thereafter.

Fransman critised the event saying the DA had set up the tournament a few months ahead of the upcoming municipal elections to drum up support.

He called for the matter to be investigated and said the ANC will pursue the matter both at municipal and provincial level to get "to the bottom of this sham".

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.1%
Rand - Pound
24.13
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.63
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.40
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.2%
Platinum
912.00
-1.2%
Palladium
1,021.38
-4.2%
Gold
2,161.57
+0.1%
Silver
25.12
+0.3%
Brent Crude
86.89
+1.8%
Top 40
66,252
0.0%
All Share
72,430
0.0%
Resource 10
53,317
0.0%
Industrial 25
100,473
0.0%
Financial 15
16,622
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders