The Soccer City Stadium is 50% complete and will be finished in May next year, five months ahead of the Fifa deadline, Gauteng Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation minister Barbara Creecy said on Wednesday.
An independent state of readiness audit had shown that the province was ”firmly on track” to meet its commitments for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, she said at a briefing on the Gauteng legislature social cluster’s priorities for 2008.
Creecy said the audit showed that major renovations to the Ellis Park Stadium were also well under way.
The upgrading of Loftus Versfeld, in Pretoria, was 25% complete and would be ready for the Confederations Cup in 2009.
She said the first phase of development at the Sinaba and HM Pitje stadia, to be used for training, was 98% complete and the second phase was expected to be completed this year.
Upgrades to the Rand Stadium were 95% complete and upgrades to the Orlando Stadium were 90% complete.
Creecy said the audit had also indicated that transport infrastructure development was going well. This included the Gautrain link between OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton.
It had also shown that the international broadcasting centre at Nasrec should be ready and that the alignment of the province’s security services plan to the national initiatives plan was on schedule.
The Department of Sport and Recreation was about to start identifying and training 6 000 volunteers for the soccer tournament.
”Gauteng’s provincial and local governments have always intended that substantial improvements in sporting infrastructure, transport systems, telecommunications and public facilities will benefit the people of Gauteng long after the World Cup is over, leaving a lasting legacy for our province and enhancing our bids for future events,” said Creecy. – Sapa