SA government’s S&T jumps

It is unacceptable that the departments should spend at such a grotesque level while the country faces poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment on an enormous scale. It is a major injustice to South Africans

Spending on sustenance and travel by departmental officials for 22 government departments jumped by some 500 million rand or 44% in 2005/06 - to 1.6 billion rand - compared to the previous year’s 1.1 billion rand, according to replies from ministers to the official opposition.

Official opposition Democratic Alliance finance spokesman, Ian Davidson, said in a statement that his party had now received all the replies from a series of parliamentary questions about the amount spent by the departments on hotels, travel and restaurants for the financial year 2005/06.

Davidson said: "This huge amount is even more difficult to explain in light of the fact that most departments face a massive and increasing skills shortage, so their expenditures should be going down, not up."

He provided a summary of the findings: Home Affairs under minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nkaqula rose by 190% or by 95.3 million rand from the previous financial year 2004/05; Sport and Recreation under Makhenkesi Stofile jumped by 4.9 million rand or by 107% while Finance under minister Trevor Manuel rose 114% or by 66.8 million rand.

Total accommodation costs for 2005/2006 rose by 35%. The worst offenders were Minerals and Energy - now under minister Buyelwa Sonjica - with a 145% spike of 4.5 million from 2004/2005; Sport and Recreation rose 99% or by 691,165 rand from 2004/2005 while Home Affairs rose 94% or by 15.1 million rand from 2004/2005.

Total restaurant expenses costs rose by 34% in 2005/2006. The worst offenders were Sport and Recreation with a 448% - an increase of 23,376 rand, from 2004/2005; Correctional Services under minister Ngconde Balfour with a 98% - an increase of 9.6 million rand from 2004/2005 and Science and Technology under minister Mosibudi Mangena with a 50% increase - or 536,960 rand from 2004/2005.

Davidson commented that these were only the three worst offenders.

Public Service and Administration, Transport and Environmental Affairs and Tourism all increased their expenditure by more than 50%, he reported.

"The departments should be called to account for these increases and if no good reasons are given then any increase above the rate of inflation must be questioned."

"It is unacceptable that the departments should spend at such a grotesque level while the country faces poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment on an enormous scale. It is a major injustice to South Africans."

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New stadium is crazy

Tribune: January 28, 2007
Ratepayers will know this week how much of the R600 million shortfall for the construction of the King Senzangakhona Stadium they will be expected to make up.

But as provincial officials and preferred building consortium Group 5 sharpened their pencils to reduce costs in the face of the national Treasury's refusal to raise its contribution of R1,8-billion, the project, and eThekwini's handling of it, were lambasted by Sharks Chief Executive Brian van Zyl.

"It is a sad state of affairs, really. In the first instance, to fill that stadium . . . where do you have two stadiums together like this anywhere in the world that are viable? I can't think of any. It doesn't make sense. It's crazy," he said.

He described the World Cup stadium as a potential "White Elephant". Citing the running and maintenance costs of the Sharks' Absa Stadium across the road, Van Zyl asked how similar expenses at King Senzangakhona would be met.

The Absa stadium could have been expanded, making it suitable for the World Cup - and at a fraction of the cost of Senzangakhona, he said. It is understood that the preferred bidder, Group 5, has sent proposals to the eThekwini Municipality with a reduced price, after the Treasury's refusal to provide further funding.

eThekwini Municipality head of Strategic Projects, Julie-May Ellingson, told parliament's sports portfolio committee this week that the city was short of R600-million for the stadium. The national Treasury had allocated R1,8-billion to eThekwini for the development - R1,6-billion for stadium construction and R200-million for the precinct development.

But the Treasury reiterated that it would not increase its allocation to the host cities, five of which have sought a total of R2.5 billion more.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele told the Tribune that a task team would produce a report by Wednesday on how the costs of the stadium could be adjusted to keep it within budget. This team comprises KwaZulu-Natal Director-General Mandla Mchunu, provincial head of Treasury Sipho Shabalala, Transport Head of Department Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, and Sports and Recreation Head of Department Sumayya Khan.

They were negotiating with Group 5 to bring down its price, said Ndebele.

Group 5 KwaZulu-Natal Managing Director Craig Jessop said, "We've reassessed certain provisions which we had made and we have sent proposals to the city, but nothing has been accepted yet. There is potential to reduce the price," he said.

If all failed, Ndebele said that the provincial government and the eThekwini Municipality would have to find ways to meet the shortfall. He was hoping the private sector would get involved too, he said.

"We hope that people will rise to the occasion, because this is the biggest show on earth and we have to take advantage of that. There won't be another soccer World Cup coming to Africa in our lifetime," he said.

"We have to look at how to adjust costs so that we can come up with the stadium within budget. If not, where can we find the money to cover the overflow? Treasury is not coming to the party, as they are finding it difficult to go beyond what they have allocated," he said.

Ndebele was part of a meeting on January 18 which included City Manager Mike Sutcliffe, 2010 Local Organising Committee bosses Irvin Khoza and Danny Jordaan, and Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, to discuss the stadium.

There has been a rumour doing the rounds that the city wasconsidering upgrading Absa Stadium as an alternative.

Sutcliffe would not comment on this. All he would say was that a decision on what was to be done would be made on January 31. "I'm not going to discuss anything right now. The task team has finished their work. All that's left is for a decision to be taken by the political structures," he said.

However, Ndebele said that upgrading the rugby stadium for the World Cup was "out of the question".

"We're going to build this thing (King Senzangakhona); R1,6 billion is a lot of money," he said.

An upbeat Ndebele said the province was confident about hosting a successful World Cup semifinal and would be pushing to be the home ground for five of the 32 competing countries.

Acknowledging that he had heard rumours of a city re-think in light of the Treasury's refusal to budge, Van Zyl said, "We are totally in the dark. We've received no communication - not a phone call, a letter or a fax - since August."

Van Zyl said the municipality had asked the rugby union in August for financial details of its operation. It was given these in September. "We've moved on; we're assuming that the new stadium is going ahead. For us it's business as usual," Van Zyl said.

Rugby suite holders' leases were being renewed at Absa Stadium, some up to 2012. "It would be difficult to move at this stage because of these issues."

But was the union's door still open to negotiations? "In the interests of the city we would be prepared to listen," said Van Zyl.

On whether rugby was interested in moving across to the King Senzangakhona facility, he said it included an athletic track which distanced spectators from the game. A real rugby ground did not have a track around it.

The rugby boss said his union had consulted architects, engineers and quantity surveyors in 2005. They believed they could upgrade Absa Stadium from 50 000 seats to 70 000 for R500 million. "With escalations, the city could do a fantastic job with R1 billion. Now they're talking about R2-billion or more."

Van Zyl said the Absa Stadium cost between R10 million and R12-million a year to run and maintain. "This for a 50 000-seater. Can you imagine what the upkeep of the new stadium (with 70 000 seats) would be?"

At a lunch with Sutcliffe, he said he had floated the idea of eThekwini buying the Absa Stadium. The informal price tag was R400-million. And the proposal was that the city could lease it to rugby.

"He did not seem keen on this," Van Zyl said.

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South Africa diverts hospital cash to pay for World Cup

January 28, 2007
A hospital building program in South Africa has been delayed to help pay for the country's hosting of the 2010 football World Cup.

The construction of two hospitals in the remote Northern Cape has been held up for a year while funds are diverted to pay for the tournament.

Speaking to the BBC, the South African Treasury said spending on health was increasing but did not deny that the money had been transferred.

The cost of providing new and renovated stadiums for the World Cup is rapidly rising, with construction bills hundreds of millions of dollars over budget.

A spokesman for the opposition Democratic Alliance has put the budget blow-out down to inadequate government planning.

President Thabo Mbeki has staked South Africa's reputation on the success of the World Cup.
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World Cup in 2010

July 8, 2006
OKE: Hello again, good to see you. South Africa issued the world an invitation on Friday, an invitation to the 2010 World Cup. For the first time ever, the Cup will be played on the continent. The new logo was unveiled in Berlin with dozen of dignitaries in tow. South Africa President Thabo Mbeki stressed the historic meaning of the Cup coming to Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THABO MBEKI, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: The coming of the soccer World Cup in 2010 will constitute a tribute to that effort which is not only a South African effort, but an effort of the peoples of Africa to recover from many, many centuries, many centuries of great difficulty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKE: President Mbeki also said the Cup was coming to South Africa, and it would stay in South Africa. We shall see in four years' time.

Meanwhile, the director of communication for South Africa's local organizing committee is confident her country will be ready.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUMI MAKGABO, DIR. COMMUNICATIONS/S. AFRICA 2010: I think we are very ahead, very much prepared. In fact, I believe that it's safe to say we're slightly ahead of schedule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKE: Can this be? That's a blast from the past, Tumi Makgabo there, looking excellent and on form.

While South African officials say things are on track, there are some obstacles they must confront. CNN's Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange reports:

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be organized in South Africa.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the announcement that made World Cup history and gave Africa an opportunity to show it could play on the world stage:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a spectacle, and, you know, a lot of people who think we in Africa still live on treetops and ride on monkeys, a lot of them will be shocked when they get here.

IDAH PETER, SPORTS SHOW HOST: The comparison between South Africa today and Germany four years before the 2006 World Cup ..

KOINANGE: But not a day passes in South Africa without some hand- wringing and self-doubt about the challenge ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's my concern. We don't have.

PETER: Public transport .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this country any kind of public transport, any kind of transport at all, and the roads .

KOINANGE: Four years before the tournament begins, the South African government insists it's well on track to ensuring a successful event.

Construction has begun to add a third terminal at Johannesburg's International airport, the main entry point for the 2 million or so spectators expected. More than half the games will be played in the Johannesburg area.

An elaborate subway system, nicknamed the Hal Train (ph), is planned for the region, but contractors have already admitted that only one leg of the triangular system will be ready in time for the World Cup.

And the cost of the Hal Train (ph), about $3 billion, has already provoked plenty of grumbling in a country whose public transport system is decrepit.

(on camera): And then, there is that other nagging issue that seems to be on everyone's mind here. An issue that seems to permeate just about every level of South African society, and which could potentially harm the World Cup -- namely crime.

(voice-over): Almost daily, the headlines here help reinforce the view that South Africa is the crime capital of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The public perception is that we have crime levels that are totally out of control and totally unacceptable, and if that continues, it could frighten away potential visitors to South Africa.

KOINANGE: To some, that perception is overdone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have hosted the World Cup, Rugby World Cup, we have hosted the Cricket World Cup. There were no problems as far as crime is concerned.

KOINANGE: Neither event, though, nearly on the scale of the World Cup. As the scene in Germany has shown, it's the world's biggest sporting event, attracting millions of fans and a global television audience of billions.

According to some, an intense focus may even help South Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think anybody can find negatives in South Africa because of the many problems, but I'm confident that the World Cup is being used as a catalyst to solve some of those problems.

KOINANGE: One thing that's guaranteed -- South Africa's enthusiasm for the events. In this sports-mad country, football is the sport among the majority black population. It may still be four years away, but already the anticipation, as well as the apprehension, is almost tangible.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Thanks, Jeff.

Now, CNN's Becky Anderson spoke with FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Berlin Saturday. They talked about the World Cup coming to South Africa and the challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sepp Blatter, we're delighted that you've joined us today. This has been a fantastic tournament. But now, we move on to 2010 and the World Cup in Africa. Will Africa cope as well as Germany, do you think?

SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: Absolutely. But it will be a different World Cup. The ambience (ph) in South Africa and in Africa is different than in Germany, but the South Africans, they will organize a wonderful World Cup. And they will do this World Cup, the first one in Africa, exactly with the African touch. And the African touch not only the one which is generally identified with Africa, because South Africa is a multi- cultural country, and therefore it will be a melange of all the cultures living in South Africa, but naturally they feel pressure from South Sahara countries therein, and it will be something absolutely marvelous when football, world football will be at this rendezvous.

ANDERSON: What do you think hosting the World Cup means for Africa?

BLATTER: In my opinion, and this was my first reason or my will to go once with the World Cup to Africa is to make justice to Africa. Because during the years -- I don't speak about colonialism, because this is out of football, but still, during years, especially European football has taken out the best of African football. The African footballers, they play in Europe. And they took out the best and also (inaudible), and they took it out from Africa. To give back something, nothing. So there are no professional leagues, or very few professional leagues.

So with this World Cup in South Africa, it will be justice to give something back to South Africa, and with a lot of institutions and organizations, they want to help us to bring something else in football to South Africa. I think that we will realize, we will realize what it is -- what I call justice. Justice. Give them back something.

ANDERSON: Will South Africa be ready?

BLATTER: Ready? Yes, sure, they will be ready. Listen, South Africa -- the Republic of South Africa is a well-organized country. It's a country where we have the highest, let's say, the gold and the diamonds, and the telecommunications system in South Africa, the organization of the big cities. Naturally, there is poverty also in South Africa, but there is everywhere in the world when you exclude some of the so-called rich countries in Europe, and even though you can have a look that not everything is OK.

Yes, they will be ready, and we will help them. The football will help them. But a lot of other people will help them. And I'm sure that the Africans, they have the ability to do so. And I will tell you why. Because the market, the market, and the market being the economic partners, but being also the television, they trust South Africa.

We know that the World Cup is number one in the world now, and football is a wonderful product. But why then television and our marketing partners, they invest more now in South Africa than they have invested in Germany? Because they trust South Africa. And if the market is trusting South Africa, then how we in football, we should not do it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Good point. The FIFA President Sepp Blatter with CNN's Becky Anderson, looking ahead to World Cup 2010.

Now, for more on the last few hours of World Cup 2006, you can log on to our Web site, cnn.com/worldcup. That's cnn.com/worldcup. And there you will find the latest on upcoming matches -- upcoming match, I should say, and joining the fun of (inaudible). That's all at cnn.com/worldcup.

Now, there's more to come on INSIDE AFRICA, of course. Join us as we travel to Morocco, where we'll visit a mystical festival, celebrate healing through the use of magic and music. See you on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Cities Warn of Rocketing Costs of 2010 Stadiums

January 24, 2007
The national treasury is being called on to make more money available for the building of 2010 stadiums for the Fifa World Cup as almost all nine of the cities that will host games are experiencing "funding shortfalls", which collectively run into billions of rands.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced in the medium-term budget policy statement late last year that government had made R15bn available for the World Cup.
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Of this amount, R12bn was for the construction and refurbishment of stadiums.

Even with local funding included, the amounts allocated to the host cities are not enough to meet the tenders that are being received for stadium construction. Given the determination of the country and government to make the world football spectacular a major success, the reports of shortfalls will put more pressure on the national treasury and Manuel to make more money available for municipalities set to host games.

It emerged in public hearings of Parliament's sport and recreation committee yesterday that most of the host cities were experiencing shortfalls due to expenditure estimates that had grown because of inflation, the exchange rate and rising input costs.

Five of the host cities made presentations to the committee yesterday, reporting a combined shortfall of about R2,5bn, and tomorrow the remaining cities will present the status of their preparations for the tournament.

Cape Town's 2010 administrator, Mike Marsden, told the committee the new Green Point stadium was budgeted at R2,5bn but the preferred bidder had placed the cost at R3,7bn. For Cape Town alone this meant a shortage of R1,2bn. Marsden said extravagant tendering also played a role in the higher costs.

He and Cape Town mayor Helen Zille told the committee that while many things were being done to try to reduce the costs, there would still be a "residual gap" that would demand the attention of the national treasury.

Marsden said Cape Town was working closely with the provincial government on the stadium project. He said Cape Town had estimated the cost, based on current industry prices, at R1,8bn. The lowest tender offer was R2,6bn. With 10% escalation, contingencies of 5% and insurance, the total packages went to R2,5bn and R3,7bn. Negotiations were under way to have the tender amount reduced.

Cape Town had gone to the very limit of its affordability in the project, securing more than R2,4bn. Millions were being spent on transport and electricity upgrades. This demonstrated Cape Town's commitment to the project, Marsden said. "It is not a lavish design; it is functional."

Marsden said the escalation of costs was a concern. "We presently factor in escalation of 10%. If inflation picks up and there are foreign exchange fluctuations, we believe that this could leave not only Cape Town but other host cities exposed and we believe there is a need here to address the manner in which government protects host cities from escalation," he said.

In separate submissions, teams from Durban, or eThekwini, and Nelson Mandela metros both said that they also faced sizable funding gaps. Durban's was put at about R600m, Nelson Mandela's at R262m, while Polokwane's was at R300m.

Committee chairman Butana Komphela said last night he was confident that the national treasury would come up with a solution that would not harm the municipalities hosting World Cup games. He said the treasury had been expecting escalations in the costs of building stadiums and had been in constant communication with the host cities.

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2010 stadium budget mess

January 17 2007
Tenders for all five new 2010 World Cup stadiums and for the upgrade of the FNB Stadium have come back at least R2-billion over budget.

The National Treasury has allocated R8,4-billion for the construction and renovation of the country's 10 World Cup stadiums, but more money will clearly be needed.

While negotiations with preferred bidders are still under way to review the final costs, it is understood that:

• The King Senzangakhona stadium in Durban is 18 percent over the budget.
• Cape Town's Green Point is a whopping 54 percent over.
• The Nelson Mandela stadium in Port Elizabeth is 19,5 percent over.
• Refurbishment for the FNB stadium, with its intricate calabash-shell design, was also well over budget, but the preferred bidder has reviewed costs and the design of the stadium, and come in within budget.

A consortium led by Murray & Roberts was this week named as the preferred bidder to build Cape Town's Green Point stadium. Its quote of R3,7-billion to build the city's 68 000-seater stadium, however, exceeded the budget by more than R1,2-billion.

A consortium led by Grinaker is today set to be announced by Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo as the preferred bidder to build the FNB stadium.

Only two bidders, Grinaker/Interbeton JV and Stefanutti Bressan/Tamega JV, bid for the construction of what will be the 2010 World Cup final stadium.

Stefanutti is the company that won the contract to build the SA Football Association's Safa House headquarters, although it missed its October deadline and the building is still not complete.

The Treasury has allocated a budget of R1,53-billion for the upgrade of the Soccer City project.

A delegation from the 2010 organising committee's executive committee, led by chief executive Danny Jordaan and chairperson Irvin Khoza - which includes Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile, Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi, Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi and Safa president Molefi Oliphant - will over the next two weeks visit all the World Cup cities to establish the reasons for the stadium budgets being exceeded.

"The board has decided that we should take the executive of the board and visit the cities. The first thing we must do is understand where the cost over-runs occur. We will engage in a very intensive process to get a thorough understanding. We will start by meeting in Durban on Thursday," Jordaan told The Star last night.

KwaZulu-Natal's eThekwini Metro has already indicated that the Group Five/WBHO/Pandev JV consortium had won the right to build the R1,8-billion King Senzangakhona stadium, although the cost is expected to be more than R2,5-billion.

Durban's city manager, Mike Sutcliffe, said this week that some basic earthworks had already been done and that around 2 000 concrete piles were being put into the ground, but that the city was still waiting for the go-ahead from the Treasury to start the construction.

The municipality's plans, however, to accommodate a 85 000-seater athletics stadium is a thorny issue that could further push up costs.

With costs mounting and deadlines tight, it has been mooted that the 2010 organising committee could cut down on the number of stadiums being used for 2010 or request more money from the Treasury to complete the stadiums.

Jordaan, however, is confident the financial issues can be resolved.

"The only responsibilities we have are stadiums that comply with Fifa requirements. In Germany, some stadiums were fancy and others were not. If you want to build a palace, we must understand why that is.

"We must look at what it is that we need. We are of the view that we will be able to resolve these issues and that construction will get under way at all stadiums by the end of the first quarter.

"In many instances, construction has already started. If you go to Port Elizabeth, you will see that construction has already started, and Cape Town will soon start demolition. Before you build a house, the foundation must be done," Jordaan said.

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Lotto lolly limbo

Hundreds of millions of much-needed Lotto rands earmarked for sport are frozen because of a spat between two ministers.

Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa has failed to appoint a new sports distribution agency after the committee’s term of office expired at the end of last March.

It is believed R600 million (R300m for 2006 and R300m for 2007) is lying idle and insiders blame the blunder on a conflict between Mpahlwa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile.

But it was Mpahlwa’s job to appoint the agency. No one answered the DTI’s telephone yesterday.
When approached last July, it took DTI almost six weeks to comment on the story.

“I am totally unaware of a new agency being appointed and I would like to suggest that you phone the DTI Minister’s office,” said Sershan Naidoo, Lotto spokesman.

Stofile’s spokesman, Bongi Shishi, said he did not know about any conflict between the two ministers.

“I am actually not even aware that Lotto money for sport is not distributed,” he said, although it is common knowledge that the country’s Olympic preparations lie in tatters because funds have not come through.

Without a distribution agency sports federations cannot apply for Lotto funding.

South African sport, especially the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) is in dire need of funding.

With the Beijing Olympic Games a mere 18 months away, Sascoc recently received funding from Sport and Recreation South Africa for its Operation Excellence programme.

Sascoc is still without sponsors for next year’s Olympic Games and will have to rely heavily on Lotto for funding.

Makhenkesi’s operation excellence gesture came far too late and there is not enough time left for athletes to prepare properly, so the country is heading for another mediocre performance in Beijing, a sports administrator said.

Rumours were rife that former Nocsa boss, Sam Ramsamy, will be chairman of the distribution agency, but yesterday reports surfaced that ex- Springbok rugby manager, Gideon Sam, has got the nod.

Ramsamy will apparently serve on the new agency.

Sam is the former head of the Commonwealth Games Association. Both are known for their administration skills and should the agency be appointed, the distribution process should be in operation in a few months’ time.

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More money needed to meet 2010 deadline

Tue, 16 Jan 2007

Infrastructural delays for the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa are largely due to money problems.

Most of the cities that Moneyweb spoke to said that Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s announcement, in the Budget that money allocated for refurbishments, upgrades and construction of stadiums would not be increased, even if the cities need more money, could cause problems.

Manuel allocated R15bn for the different developments and said that if cities needed more than that they would have to find it.

George Mohlakoana, 2010 Coordinator in Mangaung (Bloemfontein), says that the cities were only informed of their budget at the end of November.

“We requested R285m, we got R221m. We then had to go back to the drawing board and try close the gap. So we changed the business plan to bring down the costs,” Mohlakoana said.

He said that the 2010 team in that municipality agreed on the costs which it managed to bring down to R245m at the end of December last year.

“The balance will be covered by the city of Mangaung,” he said.

The redesign of the Free State stadium will be finalised by the end of January and construction is set to begin in July this year and completed in July 2008.

All in all however, the city needs about R1,5bn to complete all refurbishments and developments pertaining to the World Cup, which include road works, rail upgrades and other transport, and utility developments.

The biggest hurdle for Mangaung at the moment is around accommodation.

Mohlakoana said that the city only have 6 000 beds but needs 20 000.

“We have thought of ways to close the gap. We’ll look at neighbouring towns and countries, like Kimberley and Lesotho for extra accommodation.

“Both are only an hour away from Mangaung,” he said.

“We did promise that this would be a Africa hosted event that needs to involve as many cities and countries as possible. We will also look at the use of hostel beds at universities.

“There are also new hotels being built and we’ll look at home based living - ask local people to host tourists,” he said.

Mohlakoana said that it hadn’t decided on which companies would be responsible for the construction and operation of stadiums.

On Monday Cape Town announced that Murray & Roberts and Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon had been chosen as the preferred bidders to build the 2010 World Cup stadium in that city.

Apart from money or budget problems, Cape Town has also been dealt a blow because of some of the residents that are opposed to construction of the new Green Point Stadium.

At present the current stadium is being dismantled and will be redesigned.
Requests for proposals on the operator of the stadium will go out this month, Laurie Platzky deputy director general of strategic projects in Cape Town said.

“It is important to get that done as soon as possible because the final design of the stadium depends on the operator,” Platzky said.

The city is currently negotiating with National Treasury about its request for a contribution of R2bn towards the cost of building the stadium.

Cape Town cut back the stadium’s estimated building costs from R3,3bn to R2,49bn.

The city and the province will provide R500m.

In total, government will provide R1,9bn to improve Cape Town’s infrastructure.

This figure excludes additional investment in transport infrastructure and facilities planned by agencies such as South African Rail Commuter Corporation and Airports Company of South Africa.

Platzky said that road infrastructure is currently being improved between the airport and the central business district.

“The upgrade of Cape Town Station plus the pedestrian improvement between the CBD and Somerset Road leading to the stadium site is already underway.

“Otherwise negotiations on funding for the upgrade of public transport are at an advanced stage and we are waiting for Budget Day to hear from Minister Manuel what will be forthcoming,” she said.

The city of Polokwane plans to start construction on its stadium in early February.

Tshidiso Mothapo, a spokesperson for the host city said that construction would be complete by the end of 2008.

“We are still on track with the project,” says Tshidiso Mothapo, a spokesperson for the city.

“The final cost for the project will be made available after the appointment of the contractor. More allocation of funds will be needed, but no figures are available at this stage,” she said.

A total of R697m has been allocated to the Polokwane Municipality to construct the new stadium.

The budget for Durban is around R1,8bn for the construction of King Senzangakhona soccer stadium (pic above).

However, shortages of engineers and concrete have meant the costs of building the stadium have increased.

In November, the estimates were at around R1,6bn, and then the costs just kept going up, as it stands R1,9bn is needed to complete construction of the stadium.

An official, who did not want to be named said that the city can find the money if they squeeze debtors’ coffers. A lot of people owe a lot of money in water and electricity for instance – money which could be used to fund the required developments.

An insider said that a decision on the company that would build the stadium has been made, but that the company could not be named at this stage.

The old Kings Park Stadium has already been demolished and the new foundation for King Senzangakhona has been firmly placed.

At this rate, the whole country seems like a big construction site. The benefits of which will be felt many years after the World Cup.

Host cities that didn’t respond to Moneyweb’s queries include Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela metro (PE), Rustenberg and Bombela (Nelspruit).

Perhaps this gives us an indication of which cities are really on track with the planned developments.

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South Africa begins erecting 2010 stadiums

South Africa will begin construction and upgrading of the stadiums to be used during the 2010 soccer World Cup this month, the local organising committee has announced. December was given as dateline to all host cities to finalise the tender processes so that constructions worth euro 800 million would be given the green light.

And according to the local organising committee chairman, Dr Irvin Khoza, some host cities have already appointed contractors, while others have just finalised the tender procedures.

"Two of the host cities Port Elizabeth - in Nelson Mandela Metro and Nelspruit in Mpumalanga - have already conducted the sod turning ceremonies," Dr Khoza said, according to a government statement, expressing confidence that the stadiums would be completed within a short period as compared to Germany's stadiums.

He said as part of ensuring that the timeliness set for the construction of the stadiums remains realistic, a specialist task team has been appointed to set a benchmark against Germany.

Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria and Stuttgart Stadium are expected to be completed next year. Upon complexion, they will be ready for FIFA Confederation Cup matches.

Among the stadiums that are supposed to be upgraded included those in Gauteng, the biggest with 95,000 capacity. Others are found in Polokwane, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein.

FIFA has asked South Africa to complete the upgrading and construction in 2009.

According to calculations recently presented by South Africa's Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, rand 5.6 billion (euro 600 million) will go towards building the new stadiums. Another rand 1.95 billion (euro 210 million) will cover the planned upgrades.

Australia had earlier asked to be given the onus to host the World Cup if South Africa was not in a position. South Africa was cautioned to contain rampant crimes if it does not want to organise a failed competition, a notice that was met with protest in the country.

Authorities claim to be in full control and guarantee the 2010 World Cup will be a memorable event. "Like a bolt from the blue, South Africa's 2010 World Cup tournament will surprise the world with its accomplishment," President Thabo Mbeki promised in a statement made last month.

Also FIFA President Sepp Blatter in a New Year message was optimistic about South Africa's progresses in organising the major event. "The vision we have of a successful World Cup in South Africa provides a unique vehicle to impact on improving health issues, education and peace-building on the continent as a whole," said Mr Blatter. "A successful World Cup in 2010 will definitely contribute to the fight against racism and the marginalisation of the African continent," he added.

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Here comes South Africa 2010...ready or not

Fifa gambled on the host nation for the World Cup, and it’s already a tense race against time

Scene One: Pretoria, a mild summer evening, a meeting of the congregation of the local Dutch Reformed Church. The talk is in Afrikaans, the speakers are white, approaching retirement, the subject is an unusual one for this crowd: football. “What can we do to help in 2010?” they are asking. They are among the first volunteers of the thousands that South Africa needs to find over the next 1,200 days.

Scene Two: an open-air market in Bushbuckridge, an hour or so from the border with Mozambique. A women’s co- operative, Swazi speakers with baskets of beads and fabrics, discuss an idea for an event that is still 3½ years away: flag-bags, they will call them, less than £5 for woven bags in the national colours of Italy or France — even the St George’s Cross, if England should make it.

Various parts of the planet get diagnosed with World Cup fever for a month every four years. In South Africa it is already an epidemic. June 2010 can hardly come quickly enough for the next organisers of sport’s most watched event. They are eagerly awaiting its festival — and its tourist dollars, euros and pounds, its business opportunities.

As for Fifa, the owner of the World Cup, the tournament will arrive quite soon enough: lately, its president, Sepp Blatter, has looked at his watch and given it a tap as he surveys the preparations. Of the 10 stadiums earmarked for the tournament across South Africa, four are not much further than site-clearing, and one is not there yet. The 2006 World Cup had barely wound down in Berlin when a few of the game’s chancers thought they glimpsed an opening. John O’Neill, the then chief executive of Football Federation Australia, seemed to be offering an alternative when he spoke of “all sorts of question marks” over South Africa’s readiness.

Question marks go with the territory. No Olympic Games or World Cup takes place without an alarm being raised over building schedules. Assigning Fifa’s modern, 32-team, multi- billion-dollar World Cup to the developing world for the first time seems to provoke the big question more often: can South Africa deliver? Yes, insists Fifa. The stadium work, as the country’s president, Thabo Mbeki, pointed out last week, is actually several months ahead of where Germany’s was in December 2002.

The finance is in place, Mbeki’s treasury having committed £840m to stadium construction and £670m to infrastructure improvement. Soon they will start to be judged by their own deadlines: work must have begun by February on all the new stadiums. In the country’s most attractive city, Cape Town, that may be tight. Greenpoint stadium, with its retractable roof — June can be squally in the Cape — is planned for a site by the ocean in view of some handsome properties, but a local civic association is resisting aspects of the current plan.

Outside Nelspruit, 1,200 miles away in Mpumalanga province, two schools have to be relocated for the Mbombela stadium to rise on community farmland. In places such as this, the World Cup will have a transforming effect. “I hope it will bring some jobs,” says Kaizer, 19, a student at the John Mdluli school, where classrooms are to make way for centre circles and penalty areas, “and I hope my journey to school won’t have to be longer now.”

World Cups are obliged to leave a positive legacy and it is legitimate to suppose that if one fails to do so in Africa, it would weigh heavier on the host nation than one that makes no lasting impact in a wealthy economy of western Europe. The tournament will make a huge profit for Fifa, whose income from broadcast rights and only a tranche of the big sponsorship deals has already reached $3.1 billion, exceeding its previous tournament income , with more rights still to sell.

The benefits to a nation are harder to specify but South Africa would expect a significant boost to its thriving tourist industry. If tens of thousands of jobs are created — one of the more modest forecasts — it will also put a dent in the unemployment figures that show a quarter of the population to be jobless.

“If it doesn’t leave a legacy, you question the wisdom of the whole thing,” says Trevor Phillips, the chief executive of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL). “There are huge challenges but I’ve no doubt it will be a great success.”

Phillips was the commercial director of the Football Association when England hosted Euro 96, so he knows a little of what a successful tournament can do to the landscape. He feels that South Africa, while on the right track, may be left with one or two expensive white elephants. His PSL, for instance, has no club in Mpumalanga to inherit the new stadium there and bring in regular sizeable crowds. “I can understand why politically you need to spread the venues out, but commercially not all of them make sense,” he said.

Commercially, Phillips adds, the local organisers have to find a sensitive middle ground that ensures World Cup events do not exclude ordinary South Africans come June and July 2010. The price of a soft drink at one of the successful Fanfest sites — big screens and Fifa- endorsed fast food — in Germany last summer would be half a day’s pay for a Johannesburg shelf-stacker. A formula for match ticketing that will not price out the vast majority of South Africans is among the organising committee’s priorities; and keeping those cheaper tickets off the black market is as tough a riddle.

Then there is the South African story that never goes away: crime. The US ambassador in Pretoria made public this month the experience of a group of German tour operators on a World Cup fact-finding mission to South Africa. They were robbed. Crime figures are falling but are still horribly high. For all that, the country’s security record at previous events such as the rugby union and cricket World Cups of 1995 and 2003 was close to impeccable.

The football equivalent is of a different scale, and the infrastructure may creak. The trains that carry supporters between venues in 2010 will not be as slick as those that shifted fans in Germany last summer or in Japan in 2002. There will also be fewer of them: rail is the one area in which South Africa’s infrastructure conspicuously falls short. Most fans will move around by air or road.

Most teams, meanwhile, will travel less than they are used to, the first-round groups being based around specific areas of the largest country to host a World Cup since the USA in 1994. Where they base themselves may be open to tender throughout not just the country but the region. The local organisers, keen to stress that this is a continent’s tournament, not simply South Africa’s, are encouraging neighbouring states to offer training sites to qualifying nations ahead of the event (and, if Fifa sanctions it, perhaps during the competition too). Portuguese-speaking Mozambique is lobbying the Brazilian FA. And here’s a prospect to raise eyebrows at the FA and 10 Downing Street: Zimbabwe might invite England to spend time there.

There are plans to set up World Cup fan sites in every African capital. “You have to bring in the local culture,” says Phillips, “and I’m sure they will. I can’t help but feel that fans who come here will experience the diversity, the noise, the colour and be overwhelmed.”

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