The refurbishment was done by the Mahikeng Local Municipality and the formal handover to the provincial department of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation will be done after the refurbishment has been fully completed. Speaking to the spokesperson of the municipality, Elliot Moncho, he said there were three phases of renovations that needed to be completed and each phase had a budget of R20 million, with the entire cost of the project being R60 million. Currently, the municipality has completed the first two phases and is in the process of completing the last phase.

Moncho explained that thus far there have been at least 12 tennis courts renovated, and on top of that, they added two additional courts. “The last phase includes the revamp of the centre court, and we might add another court which will bring the total of courts renovated to 16,” he added. 

The reason for having other courts is that they want the public to have space to play and also they would like the space to be utilised by tennis tournaments that can be hosted in the province. “It is a requirement that the Centre must have 16 courts in order for a tournament to be held here, so we want this area to be marked as the home of tennis.”

The municipality anticipates that by September of this year, the construction at the centre will be completed and by early 2024, they hope they will be able to inform the minister of sports that he can hand over the centre for the official use of the people of Mahikeng. Moncho further explained that after the Minister has officially handed over the centre, the relevant department within the municipality will be in charge of the maintenance.

Moncho stated that there are more than 20 subcontractors from the area that are being used for the project and there are more than 150 people who were employed to work on the refurbishment of the centre for a period of two years.

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