How ex-SA Communist Party leader Moses Mabhida and World Cup 2010 changed Durban's skyline

Durban's iconic new state-of-the-art Moses Mabhida Stadium, inspired by World Cup 2010.

Courtesy of Tourism Durban

 

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Moses Mabhida Stadium’s iconic arch is visible from throughout the city. At the top of the arch is a viewing platform, reached by a SkyCar, that gives visitors 360 degree views.

Sydney has its bridge. San Francisco has its Golden Gate and Transam Pyramid. Cape Town has its mountain. All are iconic and much photographed. Now Durban has its Moses Mabhida Stadium that — granted, at a lower-key level — has joined the ranks.

The city has long had its sweeping beachfront views of Indian Ocean shoreline, hotels and high rises — it’s so-called Golden Mile.

But the new stadium — visible from vantage points throughout the city and designed as a legacy feature for Durban — grabs the eye as no city feature has before.

The stadium was inspired by the need for a world-class venue for World Cup 2010. The modern, graceful structure soars to the height of a 31-story building. Its stylishly waved roof — the Teflon-coated glass fiber material and how it’s constructed is designed to keep the sun and rain off 95 percent of spectators — looks like it was inspired by the white capped waves that lure surfers and swimmers year-round to the city’s beaches.

In fact, the stadium’s iconic arch drew its design inspiration from the South African flag. The Y-shaped grand arch represents unity. The two legs on the southern side of the stadium that come together on the northern side symbolize the uniting of a once-divided nation.

While the primary design function of the arch is to support the stadium’s roof and structure, it also supports a SkyCar, which transports up to 20 people at any one time to a viewing platform at the arch’s highest point, providing spectacular 360 degree views. For the energetic there is a 550-step climb up the southern side of the stadium. And for adrenalin junkies, the Big Rush Big Swing “bungee” drops enthusiasts into the stadium bowl.

The acoustics are great, which makes it an ideal concert venue. There are convention rooms; the stadium’s function rooms are already becoming popular for weddings and events.

The stadium also has Imbizo Place, a lifestyle and retail area that is becoming a popular meeting space filled with shops and restaurants frequented by locals and visitors alike. Two popular eateries already open are the Keg and Spear Restaurant and Nino’s. More will follow.

The stadium has a seating capacity for 70,000 fans. It has the potential to expand to 85,000 seats to meet the requirements of large-scale events like the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games.

To quote Julie-May Ellingson, head of strategic planning for Durban’s 2010 program: “The completion of the Moses Mabhida Stadium was a defining moment for Durban. This world-class engineering and architectural feat is a true example of what can be achieved by team work, the sharing of skills and collaboration between public and private enterprise. While the project has not been without its challenges, there is no doubt that each and every person who has worked on this project can ... know that they have made their mark in history. Thanks to their effort, Durban, Africa’s Sports Capital, will continue to grow from strength to strength.”

The Moses Mabhida Stadium is part of the Kings Park Sporting Precinct.

Included in this is an Olympic-size swimming pool; “People’s Park,” which includes expansive sports fields, children’s play areas, a fountain and restaurants; and “Heroes Walk,” a heritage tourism-style walkway celebrating sporting and cultural heroes along with a circular track for walking, jogging or cycling and accessible from Durban’s newly developed beachfront promenade that runs the full length of the city's beaches.

Who was Moses Mabhida?

Moses Mbheki Mncane Mabhida — Comrade Baba, as he was known to his friends — was born on October 14, 1923. His father was a farmer forced off his land and his mother was a washerwoman who instilled in her children an understanding of the importance of education.

Mabhida joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) in 1942 and was soon involved in the trade union movement and rose to vice-president of the South African Congress Of Trade Unions. He developed a close working relationship with ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli and was involved in drawing up the Freedom Charter.

He was sent into exile in 1960 and in 1963 began to work on the development of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe. In November 1979 he was elected general-secretary of the South African Communist Party.

He died of a heart attack in Maputo, Mozambique, on March 8, 1986, at the age of 63, and was given a state funeral with full military honors at Maputo’s Lhanguene cemetery.

"We who have walked with the giants know that Moses Mbheki Mabhida belongs in that company too," said the then president of the African National Congress Oliver Tambo, at Mabhida's funeral.

In December 2006 Moses Mabhida's body was returned home and laid to rest in the Heroes Acre in Slangspruit, Pietermaritzburg.

See more pictures of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in the website gallery here.

See what the official Durban city website says about the Moses Mabhida Stadium here.

See more about Durban as a FIFA World Cup destination here.
Visit Durban’s official tourism site here.
Fly to South Africa with South African Airways, the national carrier. SAA flies to South Africa from Washington and New York. SAA recently formed an alliance with Jet Blue for flights from the West Coast. Read about the SAA-Jet Blue link here.

Visit Tourism KwaZulu-Natal here.
 

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