Gwanda Municipality to upgrade Pelandaba Stadium

The Municipality of Gwanda has promised Football Stakeholders in Gwanda that it will immediately prioritise upgrading of the town's only soccer stadium to meet ZIFA and FIFA standards.

Speaking at a ZIFA Matebeleland South stakeholders convention and awards ceremony in Gwanda on Saturday, the Mayor of Gwanda Councillor Knowledge Ndlovu expressed his council's commitment to improving the stadium as quickly as possible. "Council will prioritise the upgrading of our one and only stadium to meet if possible international standards so that one day we will have our national team coming to play in Gwanda".

"There is land in Spitzkop reserved for the construction of a second stadium in the town but we will not build the second stadium before we upgrade the existing Pelandaba Stadium."

Pelandaba Stadium was build in the mid seventies by the then Gwanda Rural Council and has never had any meaningful revamp since then. At one time the stadium used to boast of having the best turf in the southern region but has since deteriorated to nearly the worst in the region. In the recent past Bulawayo Premier League side Njube Sundowns was using the stadium as its home ground and PSL also used the Stadium for some Mbada Diamonds Cup matches. This year the town missed out on the Mbada Diamonds Cup spectacle perhaps because of the condition of the stadium.

"Had we renovated our stadium in time we would have been lucky to host maybe one or two of the just ending Mbada Diamonds Cup and this would have benefited our business community and community at large." Said Mayor Ndlovu.