R350 million required for city theatre

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is expected to require an estimated R350 million from Provincial Treasury once a study has been conducted into the feasibility of building an envisaged multifaceted arts theatre in Polokwane.
Spokesperson of the Department, Malesela Ramaoka informed that the seed capital needed to fund the feasibility studies was secured and a letter to that effect submitted to Polokwane Municipality for Council to allocate a site, which they did. Ramaoka said land situated at the corner of Grobler and Oost streets had been allocated.
Ramaoka explained that the envisioned theatre will have a music house, film studio, vendor allocation and also host international shows. “Whilst we know it is not the first of its kind we would want it to be the best of its kind. We are already looking at a state-of-the-art facility that far supersedes what a theatre normally offers, a modern day hippodrome,” Ramaoka said.
He also mentioned that once the theatre is completed Limpopo based artists will no longer have to travel to Pretoria and Johannesburg for theatre productions but make use of the theatre. “We have lot of artists in the province who are good at stage production and many of them have left the province to pursue their careers elsewhere because we do not have a theatre. The theatre will help us to keep them here,” Ramaoka said.

Story: Herbert Rachuene
>>herbert@mailbox.co.za