There are plans to add a technology hub to the growing Pietermaritzburg airport site .
Photo : Barry du Plessis hemisphere athletes as well as a world-class facility for other sportspeople , and would likely attract professionals in sports medicine , designers and manufacturers of cycles , and sports retailers , for whom the precinct surrounding the velodrome would be the perfect place to set up shop . It would also firmly place the city on the map as a destination for certain sports events , including the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the Olympics . Late last year , Alec Lenferna of Real Events Management , the coordinator of cycling events in the city such as the UCI MTB World Cup and a participant in the tech hub ’ s planning , told Capital that “ the investors who [ in the beginning ] expressed interest in building the centre feel that they can make the process work ”. “ If the velodrome is built , it will make Pietermaritzburg a centre for track cycling and a venue for the relocation of the UCI African Cycling Centre , which will ensure training camps for international and national cyclists are staged in the city throughout the year ,” he said . “ The UCI has already indicated that if the facility is built they will award some Track World Cup events and the UCI Track World Championships to the city in the future , and due to the fact that
Why this project is important
• Pietermaritzburg would likely become an important aviation centre in the country
• The hub would make the city a strategic centre for research and development
• The city could become one of the few places to offer high-level R & D and postgraduate training related to aviation , and aviation-specific qualifications
• There is scope for important innovation partnerships between the private sector , public sector , the science councils , and higher education
• The possibility of establishing the city and KZN as the manufacturing epicenter of aviation engines and airframes in Africa is a real possibility
• It will cement the city as Africa ’ s ‘ cycling city ’
• The velodrome will attract international athletes , events and revenue
• It could attract cycling-allied industry and services to the area
• It will add to South Africa ’ s overall success in world cycling .
Capital | Issue 2 | 25 .