R3bn for 2010 transport
Shaun Benton
31 July 2006
An additional R3 billion has been allocated to improve South Africa's public transport system ahead of the 2010 World Cup, president Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday.
Mbeki said that a fast, reliable and efficient public transport system would benefit commuters in the years following the event.
"We are of the view that this should be one of the lasting legacies of the World Cup," said Mbeki.
"We are quite convinced that we are very much on course with regard to preparations for the World Cup."
Indicating the importance of the event to government and the country, it had been decided that the presidency would hold a meeting every month with the cabinet ministers dealing with the event.
This meeting would effectively become an "additional cabinet committee", said the president, so that government at the most senior level would be able "at all times in a position to respond immediately to particular challenges" that might arise over the
event.
Already, there are a number of ministers who serve on the FIFA Local Organising Committee for 2010, and in addition to that there is an interministerial committee with about 17 ministers who focus on "all elements" related to the event, from transport to security, tourism and finance and so on.
It would be these ministers who would be meeting with the presidency once a month.
The president has long held a concern over the development of social cohesion in what has been a divided society for many years, and sees an important benefit of South Africa hosting the major sports event in the development of a more cohesive national identity and of greater national pride.
Referring again to the World Cup, he said: "We should find a way, in the preparations for the FIFA World Cup, to use that, to improve that sense of social cohesion, of national pride, of the unity of our people around positive values."
This was work in progress, he added, saying that youth
in particular would receive a focus in terms of the building of positive, constructive values as the country moved to harness the excitement for the event towards achieving a positive social outcome.
A cabinet Lekgotla scheduled for January next year would focus again on the matter of social cohesion with regard to the hosting of the World Cup, and on the question of national pride.
Source: BuaNews
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