2010 host cities readiness: briefing by Department of Sports & Recreation & Local Organising Committee; Department of Trade and Industry briefing on Public Viewing Areas Guidelines

Meeting report

The delegation comprised of Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Gert Oosthuizen; Director General of Sport and Recreation, Mr Vernie Petersen; 2010 Communication Director, Mr M Mkalipi; Mr Leslie Sedibe, Legal Manager; 2010 FIFA World Cup Local Organising Committee; Mr Iqbal Meer Sharma, Deputy Director General: Trade and Investment (Department of Trade and Industry); Mr Van Der Spuy (Department of Trade and Industry).

The Chairperson said she felt despondent about Bafana Bafana. The recent firing of their coach, Joel Santana, was also a concern. She said that Deputy Minister Gert Oosthuzen had urged her to stay positive.

Deputy Minister Oosthuizen said that one only had to look at Bafana Bafana’s performance in the FIFA Confederations Cup to realise that they had performed well. They had played against teams like Spain which had world class players and had managed to hold their own. He urged everyone to be positive that Bafana Bafana would not disappoint during the FIFA World Cup. The Deputy Minister apologised on behalf of Minister Stofile for not being able to attend the meeting as he had to attend a Cabinet meeting.

Progress on construction and public viewing areas as well as readiness of 2010 host cities
Mr Leslie Sedibe undertook the briefing. He apologised on behalf of CEO Mr Danny Jordaan for not being able to attend the meeting as he was currently in the USA. He expressed his thanks to Government without whom the 2010 World Cup would not be a reality. Background to the 2010 FIFA World Cup was provided. Amongst the fifteen facts mentioned about the World Cup was that the tournament was to take place between the 11 June 2010 and the 11 July 2010. Thirty two teams would participate and there would be 64 matches. Ten stadia would be used within nine host cities. It was estimated that there would be 450 000 international visitors and that 3.1 million tickets would be made available. The tournament was expected to be watched on television by 26 billion people worldwide. The final draw was to be held on the 4 December 2009 and it would shed light on which teams would be competing against each other in the knockout pool stages.

Why should SA host the FIFA World Cup? The obvious and most noticeable benefit was the infrastructure development that went with the event. Another reason was the creation of opportunities specifically economic opportunities. An added benefit was country and continent branding. The tournament provided a platform for SA and Africa as a whole to showcase to the rest of the world what it could do. Tourism would also be given a boost by the tournament.

Mr Sedibe reported on the progress made on the stadia within host cities:
▪ Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg was ready and had undergone a great deal of infrastructure development.
▪ Soccer City Stadium also in Johannesburg was 90% complete and the contractors would be handing it over to the city at the end of October 2009. The World Cup final would be held at Soccer City Stadium.
▪ In Rustenburg the Royal Bafokeng Stadium was ready.
▪ In Tswane/Pretoria the Loftus Versfeld Stadium was ready.
▪ In Bloemfontein the Free State Stadium was ready.
▪ The Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban was complete and the seats were in.
▪ In Nelspruit the Mbhombela Stadium was 90% complete and the seats were in.
▪ In Polokwane the Peter Mokaba Stadium was 90% complete.
▪ In Port Elizabeth the PE Stadium was 100% complete and was ready.
▪ In Cape Town the Green Point Stadium would be ready by the end of 2009.

He continued with other aspectsof the World Cup. Infrastructure spend on the 2010 World Cup was R13.6bn. The Gautrain rail transport system was also well on track.

Deputy Minister Oosthuizen apologised for interrupting and asked to be excused from the meeting.

Mr W Faber (DA, Northern Cape) said that even though the Northern Cape was not hosting any World Cup matches, he asked that perhaps the area could be considered for training setups for teams and that perhaps a budget could be allocated to the province.

Mr Sedibe stated that the Bus Rapid Transit System was being implemented in host cities and was already operational in Johannesburg. There would be bus stations every 500metres. Airports had also undergone major refurbishment. The numbers of terminals at airports had been increased.

Information Technology had been improved. The FIFA Confederations Cup had been delivered without a hitch with an exception of a small incident due to human error. Partners in system and support were MTN, Salyan, Telkom and Sony.  

He said at present there was an excess of 80 000 graded rooms for accommodation purposes. Thus far 29 403 hotel rooms and 19 950 non hotel rooms had been signed up. FIFA’s accommodation requirements were 10 000 non hotel rooms and 45 000 hotel rooms.

The total number of tickets available was 3.1 million. The grand capacity was however 3.7 million seats.120 000 tickets were allocated to the FIFA Ticket Fund which was meant for the workers who worked on the stadiums. There were four categories of tickets available. Category 4 tickets were for SA residents only. The sale of tickets would be done in five phases. Ticket sales processes had already started.

The FIFA World Cup required 15 000 volunteers from overseas.

R1.3 billion had been spent on safety and security for the 2010 World Cup. 41 000 SAPS members would be on duty for the duration of the World Cup.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked members to interact with Mr Sedibe before continuing with the PVA/Fan Park aspect of the briefing.

Members noted that they had not been given copies of the presentation document that had been presented on. Only parts thereof had been circulated to the Committee.

Mr Sedibe conceded that he had experienced technical difficulties in trying to email the document to the Committee Secretary. He agreed to forward the complete document to the Committee.

Ms Makgate stated that after the Confederations Cup, people had called in to radio stations to air their grievances. The Chairperson said that government was confident about the 2010 World Cup as lessons had been learnt from the Confederations Cup.

Mr Sedibe responded that for the Confederations Cup there was not a dedicated service for spectator experience. However for the 2010 World Cup there would be a dedicated resource for when people arrive in SA. The event was a protected event. The by laws process had taken two years to complete. Issues like garbage disposal and even the cleaning of toilets had been discussed.

Mr Faber said that he had recently done an individual oversight visit to Oliver Tambo Airport and said that during the Confederations Cup everything was smooth sailing up until visitors had to be transported away from the airport. Luggage theft was an issue and asked what was being done to address the issue.

Mr Sedibe replied that the Confederations Cup had brought many issues to the fore. The lack of parking was a concern at the matches and hence for the World Cup it was an issue that was going to be considered. As part of the spectator experience one should not have to worry about where to park. Millions of dollars was being spent on marketing the World Cup and marketing ticket sales. Obviously as always more could be done.

Ms R Rasmeni (ANC, North West) asked what was being done about preparing health facilities for the upcoming World Cup. What was being done to ensure attendance at matches or that stadiums were filled. She referred to the huge infrastructural investment that had been made for the World Cup and asked what was to prevent these structures from becoming white elephants after the tournament. She said that not much had been seen in the Rustenburg area on the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System.

Mr Sedibe said that there were plans to ensure that stadiums were filled. He understood that pricing had been too aggressive for the Confederations Cup. In order to prevent stadiums from becoming white elephants, the Organising Committee insisted that stadium operators were appointed. Stadiums should become sustainable as entities. For example Loftus Versfeld was run like a business and was renting offices out to doctors etc. Other stadiums were being encouraged to do the same. He conceded that problems were experienced in Rustenburg. Cities were asked for project plans. The Organising Committee was trying to address the challenges.

Mr Sharma said that there had been a lack of marketing with the Confederations Cup. FIFA spent huge amounts on marketing the World Cup overseas but did not spend on marketing within SA. SA had to be more aggressive on its marketing inside SA.

Ms B Mncube (ANC, Gauteng) referred to the escalation in hotel prices, food etc when huge events came to town. She referred to the World Summit held in Gauteng and saw first hand how hotel rates, transport and food prices increased considerably. What measures were being put in place to prevent such practices? Outside stadiums vendors often sell food and other paraphernalia. Would these vendors be informed on requirements for the sale of goods? Would they be informed on what they were allowed to sell and where they could set up stalls? What about opportunities for small business and how would they be affected by FIFA’s standards. She referred to the availability of Category 4 tickets and said that perhaps advocacy was lacking in informing the public that tickets were still available. How were people in rural areas who did not have access to the internet going to buy tickets?

Mr Sedibe said the last thing that was needed was for hotel prices to skyrocket. Unfortunately SA had a free market economy and it was difficult to dictate to businesses. Another issue was to prevent the resale of tickets by scalpers. These were commercial pirates who wished to inflate ticket prices. There had to be some form of regulation. Businesses would be allowed to function as usual. They would not be bulldozed by the Organising Committee. More communication was needed with small stores and vendors.
He said that the intention was to increase the allocation of Category 4 tickets.

Mr Sharma (DTI) referred to opportunities for small businesses and said that DTI had a ‘do and don’t’ guide. It was different to the FIFA dos and don’ts guide. The DTI guide was in terms of law. Ideally DTI and FIFA should have the same guide; it was a work in progress. The terrain was flexible. Increases in prices were considered as part of a normal market based economy practice and was difficult to get way from. The tourism industry was trying to promote a code of not taking advantage of tourists. Vendors who normally sell boerewors rolls outside stadia for example might not be allowed to do so during the World Cup. DTI had engaged with sponsors to allow vendors to sell products of sponsors. Coke for example had agreed that vendors could sell cold drinks.

Mr S Plaaitje (COPE, NW) asked whether parking at stadia had been arranged for motor-vehicles and mini bus taxis. He noted that venues were widespread and asked for an indication of which venues would be for training sessions.

Mr Sedibe replied that park and ride facilities would be provided for. The public was encouraged to use trains and the BRT System. There was a difference between training venues and team base camps. Training venues had been set aside. 52 team base camps had been whittled down to 32. These were located close to communities and it was ensured that there was a fair spread.

Ms Makgate referred to the 1 5000 volunteers that were needed. According to the presentation 67 999 applications had been received from 170 countries. How were persons in rural areas accommodated to make applications? She asked how schools were taken onboard to share in the World Cup experience.
Reference was made to branding and about public awareness of the FIFA Special Measures Act. How was the public being informed?

Mr Sedibe on the issue of rural participation said that Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) had been signed.The cities had their own programme and so did government. There needed to be a co-ordinated effort. There would be rural participation in the 2010 World Cup. A campaign was in place to take schools on board. There were safety and health considerations at stadia that had to be taken into account before allowing schools to tour stadia. He said that there were guidelines relating to branding available in the dos and don’ts guide. Communication was the way forward.

Mr M De Villiers (DA, WC) said that often after matches visitors wished to leave the stadia to go somewhere else. He asked whether tourist information was given with the tickets when tickets were sold. 

Mr Faber stated that he had recently been disappointed because tickets were sold out for a Bafana Bafana match in Kimberley. He said that proper marketing needed to be done in order to prevent persons from being disappointed by tickets being sold out.

Mr Sedibe said that no tickets would be sold on match day at stadia. There would be continued education on the issue. Controlled processes were in place to prevent toyi toying outside stadia.

Ms M Mashodi (ANC, FS) asked how many of the 15 000 volunteers were South African. Reference was made to tickets for VIPs and she asked if Members of Parliament (MPs) fell into this category. She said that on a recent trip to East London she had been disappointed by the bad service and the bad condition that the airport was in.

Mr Sedibe replied that it would be difficult to state how many of the volunteers were SA. Due to the need for security checks, the accreditations process had to be started early. Tickets had been ring fenced for MPs. There were also complimentary allocations. Each stadium had a VIP Tribune, 300 tickets reserved for FIFA and 300 tickets for the 2010 Organising Committee. He agreed to speak to the Department of Transport about the issue of the airport in East London.

Ms Mncube asked if there were Memorandum of Understanding with players. What assurances were there that players would not demand higher appearance fees.

Mr Sedibe said that players were also workers and had the right to bargain.

The Chairperson asked about security measures that were in place to prevent fake tickets from being produced.

Mr Sedibe explained that there was an electronic control system in place. The actual ticket would have more than 20 security features. A comprehensive plan was in place to prevent counterfeiting. Ticket buyers would only receive their tickets in April next year. Foreigners would only obtain their tickets when they arrived in SA.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) briefing on Public Viewing Areas (PVA) Guidelines
In order to host the FIFA 2010 World Cup, government had had to provide many guarantees. Some of the guarantees were entry and exit permits by Home Affairs, customs duties and taxes by National Treasury, general public and VIP protection by the Department of Safety and Security. DTI had to provide FIFA with a guarantee that intellectual property legislation dealing with ambush marketing would be in place. The Trade Marks Act, Designs Act and Copyrights Act were some of the intellectual property legislation. The Minister had to issue a notice that the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a protected event. In 2008 the Technical Co-ordinating Committee (TCC) requested the establishment of a working team to advance the co-ordinated implementation of PVAs. The working team, based on inputs from national government departments, provinces and host cities would develop a set of guidelines which should satisfy.PVAs requirements not owned by FIFA. Fan Parks, Fan Miles, Stadia and Stadia Exclusion Zones were owned by FIFA and FIFA terms and regulations applied. PVAs were an event with at least a 1 000 people in attendance. PVAs would be established and managed by provinces and/or municipalities. Viewers would not be required to pay an entrance fee. It was agreed that there would be one PVA for each of the 46 municipal districts. The final number of PVAs to be established needed to be communicated to SAPS in order for SAPS to set aside enough members to man the PVAs. The PVAs would offer the opportunity for local SMMEs in the district to participate in PVAs. The participation could be for the installation of viewing screens, security and parking facilities etc. Venues for PVAs would be finalised soon. PVA Guidelines was also in the process of being completed.

Discussion
Mr Faber said that there were many people who wished to watch the World Cup matches. He asked if the PVAs were big enough to accommodate all the people.

Mr Sharma said that the minimum size was a 1000 people. The bigger the crowd, the bigger the issues around security, health and transport.

Ms Mncube stated that Gauteng had a great deal of squatter camps. Was it the prerogative of municipalities or provinces to decide on where PVAs were to be located?

Mr Sharma said that the PVA area decision would be made by the municipality and the province.

Ms Rasmeni asked whether viewers would be charged at PVAs. She asked Mr Sharma in the future to provide pictures in his presentation as Mr Sedibe did.

Mr Sharma said that there was no charge to attend a PVA event. He agreed to include pictures in his presentations in the future.

The Chair referred to those persons unable to make it to PVAs. What would be the legal implications of persons watching the World Cup matches at someone’s home, where the homeowner sold food and drink to them. 

Mr Sharma responded that it would not be allowed. It would be an infringement on the rights of the event. No commercial benefits were allowed. FIFA had certain areas like the stadium and the perimeter around it protected.

The Chairperson asked how was the public going to be given the opportunity to view the matches given that there would be one PVA per district.

Mr Sharma said that this was a negotiation that had to take place at provincial and municipal level. DTI was only tasked with the setting of guidelines.

Mr De Villiers asked if there were MOUs between municipalities and surrounding smaller towns to bus in people to PVAs.

Mr Sharma said that the decision of where a PVA would be located would depend on SAPS’ ability to oversee the event. It all depended on whether SAPS had enough resources in the area to man the event.

Briefing on FIFA Fan Fest Parks
Mr Sedibe continued with a briefing on the FIFA Fan Fest Parks. There would be one Fan Fest Park in each of the host cities with the exception of Johannesburg having two. Municipalities would decide where a Fan Fest Park would be located. Entrance was free. Mr Sedibe provided a list of locations of Fan Fest Parks in the various host cities. It was for example in Cape Town to be located on the Grand Parade, in Johannesburg it was at Elkah Stadium and in Durban at New Beach. FIFA had to pay for costs at Fan Fest Parks. Some of the costs referred to would be screens, sound and the stage. As part of project management an event manual was available which set out how to run a Fan Fest Park.

The Chairperson in closing stated that she was confident that the World Cup would be successful.

The meeting was adjourned.