South Africa’s Soccer World Cup stadiums have stunned the globe’s largest sporting audience with audacious style although critics say a developing country can ill afford such extravagance and some will be white elephants.  When South Africa won the right to stage the tournament six years ago, the stadium budget was R3bn. After including two more arenas and some dazzling structural additions, that figure is now widely put at about R18bn. Of the 10 stadiums, five are brand new and one, the flagship Soccer City in Johannesburg, was completely revamped.   

Soccer City Crowd at Ghana Uruguay game

 Soccer City and the five new stadiums are all architecturally impressive and stand comparison with any venue in the world. There is no doubt the architects achieved their aim of impressing a global audience.  “People are sitting in Denmark and France and the UK saying, ‘That stadium looks a hell of a lot better than anything we’ve got here, and it looks like it works’,” said John Mackie, head of African investments at Stanlib asset management company. FIFA president Sepp Blatter lavished praise on the stadiums, last week, saying they were better than those in Europe. “These stadiums are jewels from the architectural point of view. They are really, really good stadiums,” he said.

Huge crime problems
South Africa is the continent’s biggest economy but the question is whether it could afford so much when it has an army of poor and huge crime problems fuelled by some of the world’s greatest wealth disparities, not to mention an HIV pandemic.”You see how much we have spent on building stadiums but, after the World Cup, what are we going to benefit? There are still so many problems, no jobs, people living in shacks,” said Siyabonga Zulu, 35, an unemployed man in Soweto township.  “When you build enormous stadia you are shifting those resources… from building schools and hospitals and then you have these huge structures standing empty,” the late anti-apartheid campaigner Dennis Brutus said last year.
[Shifting perceptions] But there is another side to the argument, which sees the stadiums as much more than mere sporting venues. Their supporters view the arenas as a way to reverse images of pestilence and war that still blight the continent and to affirm the potential of a young, democratic nation so often beset by self doubt. The new stadiums certainly go beyond what is strictly necessary to host a match. From the cavernous Soccer City, shaped like a giant African calabash or bowl, to the soaring arch and sky train over Durban’s ocean-side venue, to Cape Town’s majestic arena backed by Table Mountain and Port Elizabeth’s petal-shrouded bowl, they are magnificent.
White elephants
There is a more difficult question for organisers and that is what will happen to the stadiums after the fans have all gone home and whether they were built in the right place. There was controversy in Cape Town, for example, at the decision to build the graceful bath-shaped stadium in the affluent tourist district of the city, apparently because of FIFA’s insistence on a spectacular location. The previous plan was to upgrade the existing Athlone stadium in the poor Cape Flats area, thus attracting more infrastructure spending there.  Most controversial are the small but still imaginatively designed arenas in the northern cities of Nelspruit and Polokwane, with no rugby or soccer team within hundreds of km. Local officials say there are management plans for all the stadiums and those two will host concerts, religious meetings and the like as well as sport.
But while most experts believe Durban, Cape Town and Soccer City have a good chance of a profitable future in popular tourist cities with large populations, Nelspruit, Polokwane and possibly Port Elizabeth will struggle to make money. Soccer City will host a Tri-Nations rugby match next month between South Africa and New Zealand and future local games — with the additional social benefit of drawing white rugby fans into Soweto township and boosting racial reconciliation.   Durban, whose arch-spanned stadium may be the most breathtaking, is part of a large sporting precinct in a general city beautification project unashamedly tilting at the 2020 or 2024 Olympics. Supporters of the grandiose stadiums say they are an essential part of one of the World Cup’s biggest benefits, the rebranding of South Africa for longer-term investment that will eventually repay the costs. 

“With all the negative things that are taking place in Africa, this is a superb moment for us. If we are going to have white elephants, so be it,” said Nobel peace prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

http://www.meniscuszine.com/sports/world-cup-20100704/

NOBODY was going to miss out

Cheers and support all along the way to the stadium

Thanks Elise for these great photos .. green with envy that you were there!

Thanks again …  Anybody have photos of the dung beetle,  the map of Africa and the FIFA 2010 logo … ?  

Please send if you have and I will add them .

The time is now … excitement is palpable here at Liz at Lancaster …  Can you feel it.  First sound this morning I heard was vuvuzelas. Get your ear plugs  out …. !!

Dogs have their SA Bandannas, my son came to get some bincoluars on the way to the game.  He is determined to get to Soweto early and soak in the vibe. And our Mexican guests are scared … verrrrrry scared !!!

Sandton FIFA Fan Fest™
Innes Park  is located at Harris Road Sandton and has a capacity 20,000   
PUBLIC VIEWING AREA  Mary Fitzgerald Square Newtown – Corner Jeppe and Henry Nxumalo Streets, Johannesburg.  Capacity: 22 000. There will be entertainment such as live performances by South African artists, DJs, multi-cultural dances, poetry, food festival and comedians during match days. Spectators are encouraged to use public transport as there will be no parking provided for the general public. Expect road closures around the area. Please note: the City will not provide shuttle services to this area.
TOWNSHIP TV
The City of Joburg in partnership with City Parks and MTN has set up nine township TV sites. The 4×3m big screens have been installed in strategic locations in Johannesburg townships in a safe, secure environment with 24 hour security.
Diepsloot Park: Capacity – 4 000 Sarafina Park Ext 2, Midrand
Kremtart Park: Capacity – 6 000 Eldorado Park X3. Stand RE 3032, Kremetart Street.                                                                                Diepkloof Park: Capacity – 1 000 Immink Street, Diepkloof, Soweto Ivory Park: Capacity – 6,000 Haile Selassie Street, Ivory Park
Rose Park: Capacity – 6 000 Zone 3 Rose Avenue, Lenasia
Joubert Park: Capacity – 4 000 Corner Klein and King George streets, Johannesburg
Thokoza Park: Capacity – 6 000 Region D, Zone 3, 1682 Ntuli Street, Moroka, Soweto (Off Old Potch Road), Soweto.
Orlando Dube Park: Capacity – 5 000 Cnr Kliprivier and Armitage Road Orlando West, Soweto.
Orange Farm Regional Park: Capacity – 6 000 The park is just off Regional Street in Orange Farm Extension 1 Regional Street, Orange Farm Ext.2, Orange Farm.
RULES AND REGULATIONS 
Entrance to the public viewing sites is free of charge.
Spectators are allowed to eat and drink inside the venues. 
No alcohol allowed, people will be searched at the entrance 
No selling inside any venues to keep in line with FIFA’s free public viewing license.
TOWNSHIP TV MATCH SCREENING TIMES
First Round Matches:  11 June 2010 – 25 June 2010 from 2h00pm – 11h00 pm
Second Round and Quarter Finals Matches: 26 June 2010 – 03 July 2010 from 2h00pm – 11h30 pm
Semi Finals and Final Matches: 06 July 2010 – 11 July 2010 from 5h00 pm – 11h30pm
Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/5150/168/#ixzz0ppCxgRsp

For MTN Fan Zone, Montecasino and the International Football Village at the Birchwood Hotel  see blog post http://lizatlancaster.co.za/blog/the-next-best-thing-if-you-havent-got-tickets-to-a-match

Also there is a FIFA-endorsed fan park at Stithians College. ‘Indawo’ will showcase not only the games live, but also a whole host of local musicians such as Jozi and Lira.  Tickets to view the games at St Stithians range from R495 – R2995 depending on the level of hospitality that you select. The basic ’supporters’ package for R495, includes access to the Entertainment village; view two matches and a concert per day; wine and malt plus food stalls and parking.

In Jozi, on every suburban pavement, busy intersection and traffic island, is a group of hawkers selling flags, mirror covers, soccer glasses, beaded key rings  and all things promoting the national flag.  It is in the traffic that most Jozi-ites purchase their symbols of support for Bafana Bafana  and enter into the spirit of national festivity and pride.  I have been told that in Cape Town  hawkers have been removed from the streets. I have also been told that few Cape Town cars are emblazoned with the colours of South Africa’s national flag.  Is there then a direct connection between the sense of carnival festivity and display of national sentiment,  and the way in which hawkers bring the symbols  to people on the move in a fast busy city like Joburg?

On 21 May you will see Joburgers getting their weekend off to a rousing start as they celebrate the 20-day countdown to the 2010 World Cup with a sizzling street party in Vilakazi Street, Soweto, starting at 14:00, notes a Media Update report. ’Once again tourism industry stakeholders throughout the City of Gold are joining forces to stage a colourful, vibrant community celebration to demonstrate to the world that we are geared, ready, and waiting to show our visitors a great time in the city that we love!’ says Johannesburg Tourism Company CEO, Lindiwe Kwele.

Gauteng’s state-of-the-art Gautrain is set to carry its first passengers from OR Tambo International Airport to Sandton on June 8, three days before the World Cup kick-off. The Star reports that Barbara Jensen, spokeswoman for the Gauteng province on the Gautrain, said four stations – OR Tambo, Rhodesfield in Kempton Park, Marlboro and Sandton – would be fully operational by Saturday, June 5, when the inauguration takes place. Although Sandton will be fully operational, construction will still be in progress for the next few months on the second phase, from Sandton to Park station in central Joburg.

MTN Fan Zone, Montecasino. Montecasino will have live screenings on their giant Outdoor Piazza screen as well as in other areas, superb entertainment to get you in that soccer vibe, food to fit the mood, and much more. Seated at R50 per person. Book through Computicket www.computicket.com

The International Football Village offers entertainment such as the German Fan Mile, a Brazilian Caipi bar, a Bavarian beerhouse and an African shebeen. Restaurants and pubs aplenty will add to the ambience, and there will be regular live performances by music acts such as Jamali, Garth Taylor, Mean Mr Mustard and Loyiso.   For more information visit http://www.birchwoodhotel.co.za/international-football-village.html;   For directions visit http://www.birchwoodhotel.co.za/FV/infopack.pdf