World Cup 2010 Blog

By Michael Appel

Rustenburg - Municipalities in the North West will fully exploit the 2009 and 2010 football spectacles and provide support to nearby host cities, Premier Edna Molewa has told President Thabo Mbeki.

The potential benefits for non-hosting municipalities include creating sporting legacies and opportunities to operate Public Viewing Areas and non-commercial events.

The non-hosting municipalities will also have the opportunity to serve as potential base camps, and will offer tourism and creative industries various opportunities, said the Ms Molewa.

The upgrading of Royal Bafokeng Stadium which is scheduled to be used for the upcoming 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup is well on track.

The premier highlighted that the December 2008 deadline was well within reach and that the municipality was continuously providing support to the host city and stadium management in order to make sure they deliver on their mandate.

“The readiness towards the hosting of 2009 Confederations Cup by Rustenburg host city and Royal Bafokeng is going on well.

“The North West province is continuously providing support to the two entities in ensuring they deliver on the mandates that were signed with the 2010 Local Organising Committee [LOC] and FIFA,” the premier said.

Currently, the province is working to assist Rustenburg in terms of its personnel requirements for world cup.

Volunteer recruitment for next years Confederations Cup is going well the premier concluded.

The Royal Bafokeng Stadium is being upgraded from its 39 000 capacity to accommodate 45 000 in the future.

Executive Mayor of Rustenburg Local Municipality Mathews Wolmarans told the President that 56 percent of the upgrades to the stadium have already been completed.

“There are 471 construction workers on-site at the stadium of which 41 are women and 176 are youth. Governments contribution for the stadium is R158 million, while the Rustenburg municipality is funding R140 million,” Mr Wolmarans said.

The executive mayor said some R500 000 has been budgeted for the improvement of current safety and security measures at the stadium and that security projects include the roll out of Closed Circuit Televisions, around the transport terminal, in particular.

Source: BuaNews