2010 Imbizo: Joburg assesses its readiness

The event was also attended by 2010 head of security Linda Mti, Confederations Cup director Steve Watson and FIFA head of social programmes Federico Addiechi.

“Basically our approach is to seek to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup to deepen a variety of programmes that we have been assigned ourselves in the city,” Masondo said.

“We also want to ensure that long after these two events are gone, the legacy left behind should add to the improvement of quality of life of our people. We are also confident that come 2009, Joburg will be found more than ready.”

The 2010 Imbizo, an initiative of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), will be taking place in each World Cup host city. It kicked off in Bloemfontein, followed by Pretoria and was held in Johannesburg yesterday.

“The aim is to create awareness of these tournaments among our communities and assess our readiness and strengthen the partnerships that we already have with FIFA, LOC and other stakeholders,” said Nandi-Mayathula-Khoza, member of Joburg mayoral committee, in charge of community development.

Traditional curtain-raiser

The Confederations Cup, a valuable and traditional curtain-raiser for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, will be held next year in SA, 14 - 28 June, with 16 games set to be played at Coca-Cola Park (Joburg), Loftus (Pretoria), Royal Bafokeng (Rustenburg)) and Bloemfontein. The draw for this competition will take place on 4 December 2008 and Joburg will host both the opening and the closing ceremony.

Confederations Cup director Watson said, “We are at advanced stage for the preparations and I am pleased that we have been meeting with various stakeholders to come up with a consolidated approach.

“This is a major tournament that will give us the opportunity to fine-tune the readiness and test the strength of SA with regard to organising the 2010 World Cup.”

Revamp public transport system

Currently, the city is spending a whopping R2.832 billion to revamp its public transport system, including the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) called ‘Joburg Reavaya'. Through this state-of-the-art system, commuters and fans from Soweto, Alexandra, Lenasia and other parts of the city will be travelling efficiently and safely to the CBD, Doornfontein, Bertrams, Hillbrow and Joubert Park through a total of 143 modern buses, 20 BRT high-tech stations and a BRT fare system using smart cards (Phase 1A).

The first BRT station will be opened in Joubert Station in October 2008.

Troubled electricity supplier Eskom has started the rehabilitation of municipal distribution networks for the 2010 projects, courtesy of the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), which is spending R120 million for the project. Work on Joburg's rehabilitation electricity networks will be completed on 31 May 2009.

Currently, Joburg boasts at least 620 non-hotels rooms and 6119 hotel rooms of FIFA standards, and a total of 200 000 trees are due to be planted in and around the city as the tournament draws near.

Mti said that SA is working together with security officials from participating countries at the Confederation Cup, who are due to come here to ensure the maximisation of security and crowd control of their fans.

Addiechi told the audience that both the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup constitute valuable platforms for social development as funds will be raised to undertake several social projects in SA and other parts of Africa.