As a Province we stand united to welcome and celebrate our host nation status for the 2010 World Cup. This immense international event has been entrusted to us as an African country and as a young, strong democracy. Now the hard work for 2010 starts as part of iKapa elihlumayo, 'growing and sharing the Cape'.
The 2010 World Cup dovetails in many creative and important ways with our commitment to make the next five years our Province's best five years to date. This great occasion will also help unite and build our Province into the Home for All that we need it to be.
Cabinet has committed itself to full and immediate support to the 2010 World Cup. This morning I established a Cabinet sub-committee chaired by the Minister for Sport, Culture and Recreation: Chris Stali. Other members are Mcebisi Skwatsha, Minister for Transport and Public Works; Marius Fransman, Minister for Local Government; Lynne Brown, Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism and Leonard Ramatlakane, Minister for Community Safety. This sub-committee must report to Cabinet within a month.
The initial brief to the sub-committee includes the following:- A scoping exercise to establish the impact of the event and preparation needs of the Province, including stadiums, transport, safety, work creation, sport development, tourism, audience development, community participation, capacity needed, capacity development, planning and strategic issues.
- Strengthening and developing co-operation and planning between the Province and Local Governments, especially that of the City of Cape Town towards beneficial synergies.
- Integrating World Cup 2010 preparations into iKapa elihlumayo's strategies and ensuring that it first benefits the poor of our Province.
- The identification of stakeholders and development of a co-ordination and co-operation process.
- An assessment of what is needed to complete the Athlone Stadium and to enhance the associated development of the Klipfontein corridor.
We believe that our Province and city have a lot to gain from the World Cup and a lot to give.
The tourist spin-offs of such a major event for a province like ours will be enormous and must benefit all our people, especially our poor fellow citizens. I am sure that the world's great soccer nations will appreciate the beauty of our Province and the welcoming reception of our people.
Cape Town would be an ideal location for the opening ceremony of Africa's first soccer World Cup. Hosting the opening would be a magnificent gift that we could give to our nation, continent and world from a united, diverse and growing Cape. We would also like to be in a position to host major matches up to semi-final level.
I want to caution against any exploitation of the event through exhorbitant pricing policies or poor service. This is an opportunity to grow this very beneficial industry even more. We need to and we must use these five years to showcase and develop Cape Town as a premier, value-for-money world soccer destination.This Sunday Santos will play against Chiefs this weekend. I call on all sport fans of all backgrounds to join me in attending this match. Let us do this as an act of celebration and commitment to 2010, with discipline, festivity and a view toward the good things that we will build together from this historic world honour.
