Cape Town plans to add R30m roof to DHL Stadium to host UFC - Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis
Hill-Lewis says the City's engineers have already drawn up four plans for temporary roof options.
Lester Kiewit speaks to City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Listen below.
Hill-Lewis confirms that there are plans to add a temporary roof to DHL Cape Town Stadium which will cost around R30 million.
With an open roof, the stadium can only host events that are not weather-dependent.
Hill-Lewis says the plan comes after Cape Town's proposal to host South African UFC champ Dricus du Plessis's next match, which requires an indoor venue.
"We are already someway down the road... when it became a possibility that we could pitch for a Dricus fight, we started working on a plan immediately because we know that an indoor venue is a non-negotiable requirement of the UFC."
- Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor - Cape Town
Hill-Lewis says the City's engineers have already drawn up four temporary roof options.
"All of them would be temporary roofs and it would give us a chance to erect, take down and re-erect to give some flexibility at the stadium to also host other events."
- Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor - Cape Town
The temporary roof could be done by March 2025, if a plan is approved by broader government entities.
Cape Town may also host a UFC fight at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
However, Cape Town competes with Johannesburg and Pretoria to host the next big UFC match. "So it's by no means in the bag. We're just being well-prepared with these plans," notes Hill-Lewis.
"Our engineering teams have already come up with four options, all of which work but have different costs and have different pros and cons."
- Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor - Cape Town
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.