| Location | Princess Margaret Drive, Pelham, Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°37′03″S30°23′08″E / 29.6173878°S 30.3856409°E Coordinates: 29°37′03″S30°23′08″E / 29.6173878°S 30.3856409°E |
| Owner | Msunduzi Municipality |
| Capacity | 12,000 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Renovated | 2009 |
| Architect | Erbacon Construction |
| Tenants | |
| Maritzburg United [1] | |
Harry Gwala Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Premier Soccer League club Maritzburg United.
A stadium is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu is the name used for the district municipality. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg in Afrikaans, English and Zulu alike, and often informally abbreviated to PMB. It is a regionally important industrial hub, producing aluminium, timber and dairy products, as well as the main economic hub of Umgungundlovu District Municipality. The public sector is a major employer in the city due to the local, district and provincial governments being located here. It is home to many schools and tertiary education institutions, including a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It had a population of 228,549 in 1991; the current population is estimated at over 600,000 residents and has one of the largest populations of Indian South Africans in South Africa.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European, Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.
In 2008 the stadium had a capacity of 10,000, but around September 2009 it was upgraded to 12,000 seats. [2] The reason for this, was an urgent need for more high capacity stadiums in the region, particular being requested as part of the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup. [3] The stadium, was initially planned to be able to seat 20,000 supporters, but the municipality revealed, that with the funds at their disposal, the stadium will have a capacity of just 12,000.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations. In 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the finals.
The stadium is named after ANC politician Harry Gwala.
Themba Harry Gwala was a revolutionary leader in the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) in South Africa.
