German delegation for 2010 FIFA World Cup
14 May 2007
South Africa will be hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup delegation and the
Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (Port Elizabeth) is the selected host city in the
province, where a 50 000 seater stadium is being constructed. In addition to
the hosting role of the metro, Buffalo City and King Sabatha Dalindyebo
municipalities have been earmarked as potential practice venues.
However, it is an irrefutable fact that the success of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup event is dependent mainly on our ability to provide world class
infrastructure and systems that will not only support the event but will be
enjoyed by all South Africans well beyond 2010.
The high transport demand of the 2010 FIFA World Cup delegation requires a
strategic and systematic approach that manages the demand for transport in a
co-ordinated manner.
All levels of government have committed themselves in ensuring:
* an efficient and safe transportation for all visitors
* sufficient air, road and rail transport operators to accommodate the
event
* sufficient transport infrastructure to accommodate projected travel
demand.
Amongst the different roles and responsibilities placed on this Department
in this regard is that of playing a co-ordinating role for all transport
related aspects and the development of a provincial travel demand management
master plan. The outcome of this initiative will be a strategic framework
illustrating different likely scenarios from a transport and mass movement
point of view. This will include, among other things, priorities for investment
by the government towards improvement of transport in its entirety from the
strategic, planning, operations and management of systems and infrastructure
respectively.
In response to the above the Department of Roads and Transport (DRT)
initiated a process of establishing a 2010 Provincial Transport Working Group
which was responsible for, amongst other things, the development of priority
statements within the framework set out by the national Department of Transport
(DOT). This working group sits whenever there is a pressing matter relating to
transport especially those matters that have bearing on the 2010
preparations.
Last year, the national Department of Transport (DOT) published a Transport
Action Plan for 2010 which stated that initial travel demand projections for
2010 confirm that the scale and magnitude of the event will be unlike anything
ever experienced in South Africa before and will therefore require planning and
coordination beyond any transport management experience the country has ever
faced.
The province of the Eastern Cape initiated a process of close co-operation
with the government of Germany in the early years of the new dispensation. In
terms of that co-operation and to improve the capacity needed to deliver on our
mandate, the Department successfully negotiated with Senior Experts Services
(SES) in Germany to send some senior experts to the Eastern Cape during the
first quarter of the 2007/08 financial year on a short term assignment to
assist the Department.
The presence here today of the three experts visiting the province:
1. Mr W Luders
2. Professor, Dr Follmann
3. Professor, Dr Habermehl of Darmstadt University of Applied Science is proof
that the co-operation and collaboration arrangements with the government of
Germany continue to bear fruit.
They were involved in the development of transport systems in Germany while
preparing for the 2006 Soccer World Cup held in that country.
Part of their assignment during the one-week stay with us will be for them
to share ideas and possible scenarios towards co-ordinated planning of a
proposed Provincial Transport Demand Management Plan for 2010.
They will also share their experiences at a meeting arranged for tomorrow
with the transport working group which include representatives from different
authorities as well as the municipalities referred to above.
We must all work together so as to maximise the use of available resources
and ensure that 2010 is not remembered only for soccer but as the best World
Cup ever far beyond the World Cup itself.
I wish to welcome them to our province and the Department and hope that they
will enjoy their short stay with us so that we may perhaps see one or more of
them back at a later stage for a longer-term assignment.
Issued by: Department of Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial
Government
14 May 2007
