The City of Ekurhuleni is pulling-out all the stops to ensure construction of the World Cup Village is completed a month before the kickoff.
The World Cup Village is expected to act as a transit point for visitors’ en-route to other host cities and stadiums during the tournament. According to the municipality, there will be three dedicated bus services with one operating between OR Tambo International Airport and the village.
Marisa Truter, Senior Marketing Officer for the City says the village will have a carnival atmosphere to welcome visitors with song and dance.
“We want to turn the village into a carnival. There will also be an events arena where big screens will be erected to flight the games. We will also erect stalls where people can sell their wares,” says Truter.
On a media tour of World Cup related projects in the city on Friday, workers were hard at work pushing for the April deadline.
The tour started with a visit to the Ekurhuleni Welcome Desk at the OR Tambo Airport. Truter says the desk is manned by employees from the municipality and tour operators (business owners) in the city, “ensuring that businesses have direct access to market their entities”.
From there the entourage made a stop at the village, a 13 minutes trip with thanks to police escort. It was then on to some World Cup Legacy Projects with a visit to Mehlareng and Makhulong stadiums in Tembisa and Sinaba stadium in Daveyton. The tour also made a stop at the Botsotso informal soccer field in Katlehong. At some venues workers were putting finishing touches to complete the impressive work done on the projects.
It is reported that New Zealand is eyeing one of the three stadiums as a training venue during the tournament. New Zealand will be based at the nearby Serengeti for the tournament.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
15 February 2010
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.gautengonline.gov.za/)
