2010 countdown fever grips SA
Bathandwa Mbola
2 March 2010
Tuesday marks 100 days to the kick-off to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and excitement is building across the country, with the organisers calling on South Africans to demonstrate their support and enthusiasm for the first football World Cup on African soil.
From flying the flag and donning Bafana Bafana kit to feasting on South African food, music and dance, the next 100 days will be a celebration of what the country has already achieved in preparing for the tournament, and a chance to get South Africans into the spirit of the World Cup.
The organisers of the World Cup have lined up a series of programmes aimed at bringing the reality of the event home to South Africans.
On Monday evening, Durban hosted an an official 100 Days celebration attended by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Fifa president Sepp Blatter and 2010 Organising Committee chairman Irvin Khoza - and marked by a South African Air Force fly-past.
On Wednesday, Bafana Bafana will face Namibia in a friendly international at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The City of Johannesburg, meanwhile, has inviting Joburg residents to get down to Maude Street in Sandton for a massive street party. The event, which will be held between 11am and 3pm, will include entertainment where locals will be taught the dazzling Diski Dance.
The Diski Striker vehicle from the James Hall Museum of Transport will be presenting its "vuvuzela frenzy" with vuvuzelas and soccer balls as prizes. Music, games, quizzes and live artists such as Freshlyground, Karen Zoid and others are also part of the programme.
South African Tourism will be part of the event with its "Fly the Flag" campaign at the Sandton Convention Centre, the City of Johannesburg will be promoting its "You Make Joburg Great" campaign - and the South African Air Force will stage its second fly-past in the space of two days.
A one-hour live community radio phone-in programme, to be broadcast on 66 stations reaching approximately seven-million listeners, will also mark the day's celebrations.
Source: BuaNews
