Checklist to monitor 2010 host cities' preparations

Cape Town - As part of its efforts to ensure local governments are ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Department of Provincial and Local Government has devised a checklist to monitor the progress that host cities are making with regard to their preparations.

"The department of provincial and local government has prepared a practical governance checklist for the purposes of evaluating the implementation plans of the host cities," said director-general Lindiwe Msengana-Ndlela today, presenting the department's plans for the World Cup to a joint meeting of the department and the sport portfolio committee, in Parliament.

Among others, Ms Msengana-Ndlela said the checklist sought to alert host cities on the refinement of their five-year Integrated Development Plans.

"The Governance checklist further identifies the need for a budget review to accommodate a municipality's spending on 2010 projects. The department of provincial and local government intends to provide appropriate support in this regard," she said.

The Soccer World Cup is expected to bring billions of dollars in investment to South Africa, particularly in terms of infrastructure development and also create thousands of jobs.

While the department was putting mechanisms in place to ensure host cities would deliver and live up to expectations of the World Cup, the department's developmental strategies went far beyond 2010, Ms Msengana-Ndlela said.

"The approach of the department of provincial and local government is informed by the sustainable development trajectory that we are pursuing for the benefit of local communities," she said.

The World Cup, which President Thabo Mbeki and FIFA president Sepp Blatter have branded as an African World Cup, is also seen as one that would benefit the continent as a whole.

"If we host a successful soccer tournament in 2010, the whole African continent will have reason to celebrate because we would have proven that African countries are capable of hosting an event of this magnitude," the department of foreign affairs director of state protocol, Ellen Hajie, said.

- BuaNews