BUDGET 2006
Budget boost for World Cup
16 February 2006
South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup have received a major boost in finance minister Trevor Manuel's 2006 Budget.
Manuel, delivering his tenth Budget speech in Parliament on Wednesday, promised an R8.5 billion capital expenditure plan designed to ensure the country is ready for the world's football fans in just four years' time.
R5 billion has been allocated for building and renovating the ten World Cup stadiums ahead of what will be South Africa's' largest ever sporting event. R3 billion of this amount will be spent in the course of the next three years.
2010 legacy
The remainder will be allocated to upgrading the country's road and rail resources in anticipation of the three million tourists the event could attract.
"This means the 2010 World Cup will leave a legacy for football in South Africa," 2010 CEO Danny Jordaan told Business Day after the speech.
Work on the stadiums
will begin in earnest once the 2006 World Cup, being hosted by Germany, is completed.
Five new stadiums are to be built, while five existing stadiums will be upgraded. In the Western Cape, Cape Town’s Green Point stadium will be rebuilt, becoming a "totally new" multi-purpose sports facility complete with a dome that can be opened and closed.
Winning nation
Manuel's Budget follows President Mbeki's challenge issued in the State of the Nation address, that South Africa present the "best ever" World Cup.
"There are no joys without the nightmares that precede them," said Manuel, referring to the national football team's dismal showing in the recent Africa Cup of Nations.
Manuel joked that both the national football and cricket teams had been volunteered to do unpaid clearing of building rubble.
Southafrica.info reporter
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