Tshwane's preparations and progress for 2010

As a host city for both the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the showcase 2010 World Cup, Tshwane is gaining momentum in its preparations for these events. In 2007, the City of Tshwane established an office dedicated to ensuring the readiness of Tshwane to run the two events successfully. The office has a coordinating role and is headed by a chief executive officer, Godfrey Nkwane.

A steering committee has been established to play an advisory role to the 2010 office. The committee, chaired by the Executive Mayor, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, includes senior municipal management and representatives from Blue Bulls Company, SAFA, Mamelodi Sundowns FC and SuperSport United. To complement internal capacity, the City of Tshwane recently appointed a consortium of consultants in all critical areas, including marketing and communication, legal, infrastructure development, local economic development, safety and security, risk management, and information and communication technology.

Currently, preparations are focused on two broad areas, namely the planning of efficient and compliant programmes or processes and the improvement of the identified stadiums.

1. Planning and processes

   Behind every successful event is a thorough planning process. Important departments in the City of Tshwane have been working on plans and processes for some time now - some even before the FIFA announcement was made in 2004. Issues such as transport planning, safety and security and environmental management are some of the behind-the-scenes processes that could mean the difference between success and disaster.

   Safety and security

   Representatives of the Tshwane Community Safety Department have made about ten international fact-finding trips to countries such as England, Germany, Israel, France and Canada to investigate best practices and gain the insight needed for a safe and orderly 2010 event in Tshwane. The same dedicated experts who were involved in the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Cricket World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and other large-scale international events have established a working cluster to ensure that all safety and security issues are comprehensively planned for.

   The Loftus precinct plan has been put together in detail and the current version was presented at the FIFA inspection in February 2008, resulting in requests for a few minor changes. Traffic management plans, policing models, disaster management plans, transport routes and the like are progressing well.

   Environmental management

   In view of the tremendous environmental impact of activities, products, services and facilities of the 2010 World Cup, the City of Tshwane's Agriculture and Environmental Management Department has created guidelines for environmental obligations and activities which embrace sustainable development to mitigate, where possible, the environmental impacts associated with the event. The Environmental Plan for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is available on the Tshwane website and provides guidelines for all areas of planning for 2010, including energy and paper consumption, water use and pollution, waste minimisation, green procurement and horticultural efficiency.

   Volunteer programme

   The 2010 Local Organising Committee's volunteer plan will see the City of Tshwane register, appoint and train 1 500 volunteers to be ambassadors, assistants and ushers and to play other supplementary roles during the 2009 and 2010 events. A strategy for recruiting volunteers is in the final stages of planning and it is hoped that a registration form will soon be available at municipal offices and on the Tshwane website.

   Tourism and accommodation

   The City of Tshwane is in the middle of a number of planning and liaison processes for providing sufficient and graded accommodation for the event. A City Tourism Master Plan is in place, with five programmes emphasising 2010 tourism. The City of Tshwane is establishing the institutional framework for the implementation of this master plan. This includes the establishment of a regional tourism organisation and several local tourism organisations.

   Since only graded establishments will be approved by FIFA and only 24% of Tshwane's establishments are graded, the City of Tshwane and various tourism partners have started a process of assisting smaller establishments with grading. To date 46 B&Bs have been graded. The City of Tshwane is also working on plans to create additional accommodation establishments in the area, primarily in the more underdeveloped areas of the city and in adjacent municipal districts. One such project is the Dinokeng Project in the Metsweding area (Bronkhorstspruit).

   City planning and beautification

   In the City Planning, Development and Regional Services Department plans are underway for city decoration, neatness and maintenance, cleansing and the identification of gateways and focus routes, sites and precincts. To aid in this process, the department is compiling a government information systems (GIS) database of maps and aerial photos, which will be used by all stakeholders to synchronise and consolidate planning.

2. Infrastructure upgrades

   Both FIFA events are being used as conduits to fast-track the City of Tshwane's infrastructure developments beyond 2010. Numerous developments are being and will be made to public transport infrastructure, sports facilities, events arenas and the like that will remain long after the FIFA events are over. These "legacy" developments will benefit many residents in the more underdeveloped areas of Tshwane not only for 2010, but in the long term.

   To date, the main focus area, according to FIFA requirements, has been on the stadiums, with other infrastructure projects in the planning phase. The match venue and three training venues are all being upgraded.

   Upgrading of Loftus

   The match venue in Tshwane, Loftus Versfeld stadium, is currently undergoing upgrades and modifications to bring it in line with FIFA requirements. Much of the improvement work will form part of the "legacy" investments, including a roof over the eastern pavilion (until now an open pavilion), additional ablution facilities, new entrance gates and turnstiles, a media centre, a new venue operations centre and control room, a new medical facility (for spectators) and the upgrading of the current medical facilities for the players, the replacement of spectator seats, the provision of a new VIP seating area and a new dugout with reserve seating, and improvements to sound, evacuation, power and video and scoreboard systems. The overall investment in this project is about R90 million.

   Development of training venues

   The development of sufficient and adequate training venues is an important requirement for all 2010 host cities. FIFA requires two training venues, but, as part of the Legacy Project, Tshwane is preparing three FIFA-standard training venues. These are Super Stadium in Atteridgeville, HM Pitje Stadium in Mamelodi and Giant Stadium in Soshanguve. All of these areas are former townships which are still lagging behind in development and economic opportunities to varying degrees.

   Future plans

   After the FIFA inspection scheduled for April 2008, much of the focus will shift from planning and developments around the stadiums to host-city requirements such as fan parks, public viewing areas and fan miles.

   There are plans to step up the volunteer programme, liaise with business and register small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) on the national Department of Trade and Industry's SMME database. In September 2008 ("tourism month") the Executive Mayor will be hosting a preparatory event at one of the identified 2010 venues to create a networking opportunity for business and a practice opportunity for volunteers and the various critical support departments.