Speaking at the 2010 conference hosted by the Institute for Local Government Management of South Africa (ILGMSA) on Thursday 24 May, Salga Chief Operations Officer Sabelo Wasa said one of the issues high on Salga's agenda was to ensure that the camp base and fan parks were made available in the non-hosting municipalities.
"We have been discussing the issue with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and we also want volunteers during the tournament to be drawn from the non-hosting municipalities as well," he said, adding that the LOC was warm to the idea.
Wasa also explained that the focus on non-host municipalities was premised on the fact that the LOC had a formal programme involving the host municipalities.
He further said that the association would coordinate the volunteers training.
"We are still going to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with tour operators in order to roll out the training programme," said Wasa.
In addition he indicated that the association would ensure that non-hosting municipalities establish websites for marketing purposes.
He also acknowledged that some municipalities may struggle to establish their own website, saying that Salga would be ready to assist them in terms of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure.
Deputy Manager for Programmes and Support in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality Mduduzi Nkosi said they were also looking at various options that would enable non-hosting municipalities to benefit from 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
The Ehlanzeni District encompasses five local municipalities, including Mbombela, which is a host municipality.
Regarding the training of volunteers, Nkosi said Africans must be the ones to train those volunteers.
"The point is that this must be a truly African world cup and not just an extension of the German world cup.
"How the German greet and welcome visitors will be different from how South Africans will welcome international visitors in terms of their languages and gestures," said Nkosi.
He also noted that the district municipality was not only focused on five municipalities but also roped in Swaziland and Mozambique to also benefit from the tournament.
Nkosi said both countries had established their 2010 technical teams.
World Cup fixtures will be played in ten stadia across of country, of which half are being renovated to comply with FIFA's requirements and the other half to be built from scratch.
Construction has started on all the five arenas to be newly built.
Renovations to four of the stadiums set to host 2010 fixtures would be complete by December 2008.
These stadiums are Vodacom Park in Mangaung, Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg, Loftus stadium in Pretoria and Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Those who will be completed by October 2009 are Mbombela in Nelspruit, Peter Mokaba (Polokwane), Nelson Mandela Bay, Green Point (Cape Town) Moses Mabhida (Durban) and the Soccer City in Johannesburg.
Source: BuaNews
Presentation for Seminar
