26 Mar 2025

The new National Stadium track that cost P16.1 million will be handed over to Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) on April 5. Speaking during track refurbishment progress update press conference on Monday, BNSC Director for Business Development and Property Management, Makuke Makuke said although the project was initially budgeted to cost P7.2 million, the money increased due to change of scope as the track had to be refurbished with blue and black layers.

He said the sport ministry had to approve the revised budget.

He further said the BNSC would hand over the track to Botswana Golden Grand Prix on April 6 for their April 12 international meet.

Meanwhile, he said the stadium track was constructed and classified in accordance with IAAF standards by BSW Germany in 2010 and 2018 after undergoing upgrade works.

Giving background concerning the refurbishment of the stadium, he said the national stadium track was not used in 2024 as its IAAF certification had expired. 

Instead, he said all Botswana Athletics Association activities were hosted in Francistown.

He said the track was classified in accordance with IAAF, now known as World Athletics, by BSW Germany in 2010 and 2018 after undergoing upgrade works.

The certification, he said was to expire in 2024, but with regular upgrades of cut and patch, it was extended to end of 2024.

He further said the scope of work for the upgrading of the track was done in 2023.

 “This was done by BSW Germany certified installer who installed the track in 2010. The first option was to repair the existing track due to budget constraints estimated at P8.7 million.

 The process to follow was stipulated in the scope by the expert.” he said.

He said the second option was to redo the entire track, which was estimated to cost P20 million, adding the procurement for track refurbishment was started and the award was given in September 2024 for six months, commencing October 2024.

However, he said that did not happen as other stakeholders such as the Botswana Premier League had to be engaged as the league games were still played at the National Stadium.

The project, he said was handed to the contractor in December with four months timelines, which the contractor had honoured. ENDS