Polokwane stadium under way
Themba Gadebe
2 April 2007Picks and shovels were taken up in Polokwane in South Africa's Limpopo province on Friday at the site of the last stadium to begin construction for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
On a rainy late summer day, the host city conducted the sod-turning ceremony for the Peter Mokaba Stadium, within the deadline promised to football governing body Fifa.
The Peter Mokaba Stadium is one of five venues South Africa is building from scratch for world football's showpiece event. The other four are: Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town; Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga province; Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape; and King Senzangakhona Stadium in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
Another five existing stadiums are being refurbished and upgraded: FNB Stadium (also known as Soccer City) and Ellis Park in Johannesburg; Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria; the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, North West province; and Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein, Free State.
Speaking at the sod-turning ceremony, Local Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan said the stadium would balance Polokwane's infrastructure with its high "football profile." The city, he said, had the second-biggest football fan base in South Africa, second only to Durban.
The Peter Mokaba Stadium, set to be complete by March 2009, will have 5 000 seats for the media, two lounges and more than 5 000 VIP seats.
Project manager Tebogo Nchapha said the 45 000-seat stadium - which will host five matches in 2010 - would produce major economic spin-offs for the province.
"Job creation will be felt on and off the field," Nchapha said. "The manufacture of material such as bricks and steel will be done by the people of this province, and inside the field it is people of the province who will be building their own stadium.
"We are confident of delivering a quality stadium that will meet Fifa's requirements."
Source: BuaNews
