Thirty days to go until the World Cup kick-off at Johannesburg’s Soccer City, and the handle had fallen off. Quite literally. Off the door of the Soccer City stadium auditorium in the basement, that is.
Not encouraging for the various members of South Africa’s local organising committee who had gathered to assure the press that everything remained on track for the country to host football’s mega-event in a month’s time.
Especially as, under layers of dust, construction workers scurried around adding seats to the magnificent calabash’s upper tier, while the finishing in the stadium innards appeared as lacklustre as that of Bafana Bafana’s strikers.
Despite proclamations of completion, it is apparent that Soccer City still has a rather long snag list.
Which may explain local organising committee chairperson Danny Jordaan’s foul mood when quizzed by a freshly arrived journalist from Hong Kong, who compared the showpiece stadium’s apparent incompletion with Athens prior to the Olympic Games in 2004: “Your comparison with Greece is totally out of order,” said Jordaan.
“I hope you will have a good stay in our country, but that you will also have a chance to look around during your stay here,” he added.
“What you see is the fit-out around the stadium. The stadium is complete,” he said, suggesting that all that was to be done around Soccer City was equipping work for hospitality and broadcasting.
Which is as sincere as Benni McCarthy’s relationship with the national team.
Well-run event
Jordaan is increasingly tiring of criticism of the country’s readiness to host the World Cup. With 30 days to go, it is becoming clearer that South Africa will host a thoroughly well-run event. But, it will also have to deal with a post-tournament hangover that includes nipping and tucking infrastructure.
Or going back to doing things the way they have always been done here. Whether having to make do with an inadequate public transport system based on the taxi industry — and which remains dangerous for users — or living with the two-headed dragon of crime and incompetent policing.
But, with 30 days to go, this is what is on track according to the local organising committee (LOC):
Security: LOC security chief Mlungisi Ncame refuted the notion of a terrorist threat to the tournament. He said that constant government intelligence reviews between 2003 and present day had concluded that “government doesn’t have any reason to be concerned about international terrorist threats”.
He refused to detail plans for explosive detection at potential flashpoints, including stadiums, but said: “We have seen the police security plans and we are happy with them.”
Ncame will be meeting SAPS head Bheki Cele on Wednesday for further updates.
Ticketing: According to the local organising committee, more than 95% of match tickets have been sold.
Transport: The organising committee’s Skumbuzo Macozuma said the various transport options to stadiums on match day had been integrated in the various cities. These include: a) using rail, bus and taxi networks; b) park-and-walk facilities and c) park-and-ride facilities.
Macozuma urged punters to “be casual” when leaving the stadium so as not to “choke up” popular travel options like the park and ride.” The Department of Transport has released a Travel Guide booklet for tourists during the competition.
Fan parks: The 10 fan parks announced are:
Johannesburg: Innesfree Park, and Elkah Stadium and Soweto Cricket Club
Cape Town: The Grand Parade
Pretoria: Centurion Cricket Ground
Durban: New Beach
Port Elizabeth: St George’s Park Cricket Ground
Bloemfontein: Manguang Outdoor Sports Centre
Nelspruit: Bergvlam High School
Polokwane: Polokwane Cricket Club
Rustenburg: Fields College School