The eight nations participating in next month’s Fifa Confederations Cup have arrived in Rustenburg.
And local football lovers can catch a glimpse of them along Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki drives every day of the week.
As you drive into Rustenburg from Johannesburg, you are greeted by the eight colourful flags, billboards and huge posters that remind you of the imminent big event to be hosted by the city.
Though buzzing with people doing their Saturday afternoon shopping, the streets are refreshingly clean as they are constantly swept.
Barely five minutes after driving around the city I have contracted the Confederations Cup fever.
The 2010 coordinator in the North West, Nketu Matima, describes the infection.
“People are starting to realise that the Confederations Cup is around the corner. We have put up eight flags of the nations participating in the event on the pavements of Rustenburg and we have also used billboards to encourage people to start celebrating the great event we are going to host.
“The signage really catches attention and that is what we want. I think working together with the Royal Bafokeng nation helped to ensure that we promote the event. We have also identified 360 people, who are unemployed, to help clean our streets. And the opening of the Confederations Cup ticketing centre was the cherry on top for us. People are really excited about the event,” Matima said.
Early this year the 2010 local organising committee (LOC) came under fire from Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke, who said he was “astounded” by the absence of signage to promote the event.
This was not the first time the LOC had been critisised by Valcke. Last July, at a press conference in Johannesburg, he said: “South Africa should start sending out information now to the world on what they can expect from this country during both the Confederations and World cups. We should be starting with the six teams that have already qualified for the Confederations Cup (Italy, Spain, Brazil, United States, Iraq and Egypt). It is important for this country to promote itself. It will be too late after the Confederations Cup.”
The Confederations Cup kicks off on June 14 at the Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg.
Mangaung, Rustenburg, Johannesburg and Tshwane will host the tournament, billed as the dress rehearsal for the Fifa 2010 World Cup.
Of the four host cities Rustenburg is by far the best at advertising the Confederations Cup.
Johannesburg’s two world-class stadiums — Soccer City and Coca-Cola Park - will host both the Confederations Cup and the World Cup, yet there are just a few posters advertising next month’s event.
What you will mostly find in Johannesburg are Indian Premier League T20 posters and political party campaign posters, long after the national election ended.
But Johannesburg’s 2010 coordinator, Sibongile Mazibuko, says the city has a plan. “We have started putting up posters and we will raise our flags towards the end of May. As you may be aware, there is a lot of construction work taking place around the city; we are just waiting for that to come to an end before we can fly our flags.
“We have identified major routes such as the M1, Grayston Drive and Chris Hani Drive in Soweto where we will put up our flags. These are routes that are linked to our event centres, which is why we chose them. We could have started long ago with our advertisements but this is a joint effort between us and the LOC and the procurement processes that had to be followed, but that has now been completed. You will soon see more advertising on the streets,” said Mazibuko.
A big city such as Johannesburg, which many visitors are most likely to flock to, should not have left it to the last minute.
“Valcke’s concern over the lack of advertising of the event should have been a wake-up call to all the host cities. I think what is important are the stakeholders they work with in making sure that they deliver the events successfully. We were very lucky to have Royal Bafokeng and I think these host cities should revisit their plans. We started advertising last month and, knowing South Africans, that is the perfect time,” said Matima.
“You need to work with relevant stakeholders who will help you fulfil your dreams.”
Other host cities should learn a thing or two from Rustenburg about promoting the Confederations Cup.