2010 World Cup: input from Minister, Local Organising Committee, Department of Foreign Affairs & German Delegation

Meeting report

Opening Remarks:
The Chairperson noted that a delegation from the German parliament (Bundestag) who would be joining the Committee for the briefing on the country’s progress and preparations for the 2010 Word Cup. He commented that the delegation from Germany had expressed concern about the persistent negative views surrounding 2010 and the speculation around the “controversial Plan B”.

He noted that the 2010 Local Organizing Committee (LOC) was present to complete their presentation of late 2008, specifically looking at the aspect of fan parks and Public Viewing Areas (PVAs). The government had made an undertaking that it would make the event accessible for all South Africans. This would be followed by a Department of Foreign Affairs briefing concerning protocol for 2010.

Update on 2010 FIFA World Cup: Fan Parks and PVAs
Mr Danny Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer, 2010 LOC, dismissed those who constantly doubted the country’s ability to host the 2010 World Cup. He pointed out that South Africa had on more than one occasion proven its ability to deliver some of the best events in the world. He remained confident that the country would meet all its commitments and deliver both events barring any natural disaster.

Mr Jordaan emphasised that fan parks were an important contribution due to the limited number of tickets - only 3 million - that were available for the World Cup. As a result, only a small minority of South Africans would be able to attend matches. Fan parks therefore offered the majority of South Africans the opportunity to participate and experience the event as well. In Germany, 3 million fans watched the games in the stadiums, compared with 21 million that watched at fan parks. This implied that fan parks constituted a bigger World Cup than in the stadiums. The LOC had signed cooperation agreements with all the host cities on the matter of fan parks. All the sites have been earmarked and were inspected in September 2008. Johannesburg was the only city that would have two fan parks on the basis that it was the only host city that had two World Cup venues. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was central in providing the signal to the fan parks. There would be no official fan parks for the Confederations Cup because the LOC wanted all the spectators to fill the stadiums. However, if cities wanted to set up fan parks as a trial basis for the World Cup, then they were free to do so.

In addition, Mr Jordaan reiterated that there would be one official park in each host city. That park would be branded with the logos of the FIFA commercial partners. Any additional gathering (both in the host cities and non-host cities) would be called PVAs. From an organizational perspective, the LOC was not involved with the PVAs and was responsible only for the ten stadiums, ten fan parks, the International Broadcast Centre and the Media Centre. The PVAs fell under the jurisdiction of the affected districts, cities and provinces. Mr Jordaan noted that fan parks were subjected to strict regulations and proposed that similar legislation be developed for PVAs. Lastly, he stated that the SABC needed to be engaged on if it had the capacity to deliver the signals to both the fan parks and the PVAs.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) if there was a need for legislation in respect of PVAs.

Mr Iqbal Meer Sharma, DTI, agreed with the comments expressed by Mr Jordaan about PVAs and fan parks. He explained that PVAs were an initiative that was driven by districts and provinces. At this point, DTI did not envisage any challenges but would investigate if there was a need for any specific legislation. Finally, he assured the Committee that PVAs would comply with normal rules and must be safe and secure.

Mr Khompela asked if the LOC intended organising fan parks and PVAS in other African countries.

Mr Jordaan explained that of the 53 countries, the LOC would organise PVAs in the five countries that had qualified for the event. He assured the Committee that the LOC would deliver on this commitment.

Mr B Dhlamini (IFP) probed whether there were any rules on the establishment of PVAs.

Mr Sharma confirmed that there were some guidelines for the establishment of PVAs. He explained that there were two kinds of PVAs, namely commercial PVAs and non-commercial PVAs. DTI supported the latter, for which municipalities and the provinces were responsible. Non-commercial PVAs were gatherings where fans would not be charged admission and the requirements would be like any other public event in South Africa. This implied that the organisers (that is, the provinces and municipalities) would have to ensure safety, security, health and other standards had been met. But there could be no commercial partners to that event. That did not mean that people could not have economic activity by virtue of food stalls but they could not pass off any association with the main event.

Mr Sharma indicated that DTI was looking at banning commercial PVAs because any commercial benefit arising out of the event must accrue to FIFA and its partners.

The Chairperson asked DTI to shed some light on the 30% that had been set aside for SMMEs.

Mr Sharma explained that during the negotiations, the LOC had agreed that 30% of their budget spend would be allocated to SMMEs. That work was still in the process of being fully quantified because it was an ongoing process. DTI foresaw that beyond the 30% from the LOC, government departments would also use their 2010 spend to empower SMMEs. To that end, DTI had conducted a number of road shows in conjunction with the LOC to host cities.

The Chairperson asked if DTI’s engagement with the FIFA was in the best interest of South Africans or FIFA.

Mr Sharma confirmed that it was in the best interest of South Africans.

The Chairperson complained that some of the businesses were not SMMEs and he requested that after the elections, the Committee would need to investigate the businesses that benefitted because the Committee had a different definition of SMMEs to that of the LOC and DTI.

Mr Sharma agreed that there was a need to have a detailed discussion on this matter.

The delegation from the German parliament joined the meeting at this juncture.

Welcome
The Chairperson welcomed his counterparts from the Bundestag. The delegation appreciated the warm reception and voiced their delight at the opportunity to engage with the Committee.

The Chairperson indicated that he had requested Mr Jordaan to address the delegation on the country’s state of readiness for the Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup. This was in light of the delegation’s concerns about media reports that the country would not meet its deadlines for hosting the events. Finally, the Chairperson commended the German parliament for their interest and continued support.

Minister of Sports presentation
Rev Makhenkesi Stofile, Minister of Sports and Recreation, noted that the two countries enjoyed good relations and that there was a healthy cooperation between the respective parliaments. He informed the delegation that the drafters of the South African Constitution had borrowed heavily from the German Constitution, and that the structure of South Africa’s parliament was influenced by the Bundestag.

He recalled that when South Africa won the bid to host the 2010 World Cup, the Germans were amongst the first countries to pledge their solidarity and willingness to assist the country in organising the tournament. He stated that the South African government valued the ongoing human and logistical support that it continued to receive from Germany. Lastly, he joked that he would like to see Bafana Bafana defeat Germany in the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup.

Overview of 2010 Update LOC presentation
Mr Jordaan explained that there were two main differences between the 2010 LOC and its German equivalent. Firstly, the 2010 LOC was a registered company in terms of the Companies Act. Secondly, the German LOC was essentially a three-member panel, whereas the board of the 2010 LOC was comprised of four constituent groups, namely government, football, business and labour. It was significant to note that South Africa was a developing country and that the requirements it was subjected to were stricter than that for Germany.

He indicated that there were five main reasons for bidding for the World Cup. The first was the infrastructure legacy that such an event would leave. These included the development of the Gautrain and significant improvements to the country’s airports and road networks.

Job creation was identified as important factor. The stadium building project employed 20 200 peoplw, and the bus rapid transit system being developed in Johannesburg would employ about 50 000. Originally, the LOC had set a target of 150 000 jobs. A study by an independent agency showed that already 415 000 jobs had been created due to all the infrastructure projects and others related to the World Cup. The LOC had not vetted this figure.

The third focus area was increase in tourism inflow into the country. Since 2005, South Africa had experienced a one million year on year increase in tourism. Currently, South Africa attracted close to 9 million visitors and it was hoped that this figure would increase to beyond 10 million people by 2010. In addition, he clarified that the LOC did not expect to attract 2 million tourists, as was the case in Germany, because South Africa was a long haul destination. Korea and Japan, which were also long haul destinations, managed to attract 259 000 visitors in 2002. Given this factor, the LOC had projected that approximately 415 000 international visitors would be visiting South Africa during the 2010 World Cup. At present 35 000 rooms had been sourced out of the 55 000 required by FIFA. The LOC was in the process of concluding the balance of the contracts and would achieve this by the end of March 2009. The LOC had set a target of procuring 30% of the required goods and services from small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). A financial report had been submitted to DTI which showed that the LOC procurement from SMMEs stood at 39%.

The fourth aim was to emulate the German experience of fostering nation building and social cohesion.  Finally, the LOC hoped that the World Cup would help to re-brand and remake the image of the country and the continent.

Mr Jordaan explained that the Confederations Cup would be contested by eight teams. The six continental champions that had qualified for the event were Brazil, the United States of America, Egypt, Iraq, Spain and New Zealand. They would be joined by South Africa as hosts and Italy as the current World Cup champions. The teams would be divided into two groups of four. The tournament would start on 14 June 2009.

Given South Africa’s high crime rate, Mr Jordaan said that many continued to express doubts about the country’s ability to host a safe and secure event. The LOC viewed these concerns seriously and had implemented several measures to ensure that the event was incident free. He pointed to the fact that an additional 41 000 police would be recruited to safeguard the event and that the country had hosted many international events without incident.

In respect of ticketing, Mr Jordaan explained that the most affordable ticket had been priced at USD 20. In addition, 120 000 tickets would to be distributed free of charge to ensure that ordinary people also participated in the event.

Mr Jordaan stated that the total revenue that FIFA had collected both from the commercial programme and the broadcasts rights totalled over USD 3.2 billion. This constituted the highest revenue for FIFA from any World Cup.

Finally, he showed the delegation pictures of the current progress of each stadium, and gave an indication on when they were due to be completed.

Discussion
A member of the German delegation asked if those who worked on the stadiums received the kind of training that would enable them to get other jobs after the World Cup.
 
Mr Jordaan replied in the affirmative.

A member of the delegation asked if there was any opposition in the country to the World Cup. In addition, had the LOC complied with all environmental laws in the construction of the stadiums.

Mr Jordaan indicated that the LOC had initiated regular surveys from the outset to test the views of South Africans. The results often varied from city to city, with the lowest results recorded in Cape Town. The latest survey showed that the overwhelming majority of South Africans were extremely positive about the event; with 91% expressing their optimism.

Mr Jordaan assured the delegation that LOC had complied with South African law, which required that an environmental impact assessment be carried out before any construction work was done. He added that the construction of the Green Point stadium was delayed due to environmental concerns that were raised by lobby groups.

A member of the delegation noted that Tanzania was making preparations to host some of the teams during World Cup. As a result, he questioned if this was against FIFA regulations and if this matter was discussed with other African countries.

Mr Jordaan explained that there was a FIFA requirement that teams must be in the host country within a prescribed period. This was normally between 14 to 20 days before the start of the event. It was therefore possible for teams to be based in neighbouring countries prior to the prescribed time. He cited that in 1998 South Africans were based in Stuttgart before going to France for the World Cup.

A member of the delegation asked the LOC to shed some light on how it intended to ensure that the World Cup was safe and secure. Linked to that, he asked if the LOC had any plans to change the negative reporting found in the European media.

Mr Jordaan confirmed that the country’s security plans for the event had been inspected and approved by FIFA and international experts. In addition, he commented that government had shown its commitment to ensuring a secure event by increasing the number of police officers to 150 000 by 2010. Lastly, he reiterated that South Africa had a gained a record of hosting major international events.

In response to the latter question, he stated that the LOC could not do much about negative reporting besides stating the factual position on all the issues. The LOC did not view this matter seriously and understood that most organizing committees were often subjected to this sort of negative reporting.

A member asked about the status of the LOC’s Volunteer Programme.

Mr Jordaan indicated that the response for volunteers had been overwhelming. For the Confederations Cup, the LOC had advertised for 4000 volunteers and received 40 000 applications. Those selected candidates were in the process of being trained. He added that the LOC would require 15 000 volunteers for the World Cup.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Presentation
Ms Ellen Hagie, Director: Protocol, DFA, gave a status report on protocol matters. The strategic focus was three-fold and these stemmed from the FIFA guarantees that the Minister of Foreign Affairs signed. The first related to state protocol training that would be carried out across the country. The second focus area was foreign national symbols. The last area was support for the Africa legacy programme. The DFA should assist so that all host cities had a uniform standard of protocol. 

No questions were asked.

The Chairperson thanked the German delegation for their presence and wished them a safe journey.

The meeting was adjourned.