It may sound like a joke, but this proposal was raised by two large organizations who demand better sewage service in Cape Town. Second most radical proposal after simply demolishing Cape Town Stadium.

At first we thought it may be a misunderstanding, yet after looking closer into the subject we realized it’s not. Two large organizations launched an appeal to convert Cape Town Stadium into high-tech sewage treatment plant.

The campaign is piloted by Afriforum and GCTCA. The latter is an alliance that represents 160 civic groups and taxpayers’ associations. Both institutions want to establish whether the site could be a feasible location for such conversion.

“A lack of suitable space on which to build a new sewage treatment plant seems to be one of the biggest headaches for the municipality... but many people now want to know about the possibility of converting (Cape Town) stadium into a hi-tech sewerage plant,” said Afriforum’s provincial coordinator Stefan Pieterse.

He’s supported by GCTCA official. “In Green Point, there is a huge piece of land where the stadium presently stands, and in Camps Bay the city owns plenty of land around the Glen Club,” said Len Swimmer, deputy chairman of the GCTCA.

For obvious reasons the appeal should not be treated literally. The stadium, South Africa’s most expensive in history, is very unlikely to change. However the infrastructure in its direct vicinity might in fact be possible to transform. At least theoretically, because Green Point is Cape Town’s prime district and seems an unlikely location for sewage treatment.

Previously, in 2013, there was a proposal to demolish the Cape Town Stadium altogether simply to stop excessive maintenance cost. Since its opening in early 2010 the building constantly runs at a loss and lacks a worthy tenant, making it the target of high public criticism.