NEWS
KZN Sports Department Prepares for 2010 World Cup
By Sibusiso Mboto
Escourt
The KwaZulu-Natal government has unveiled plans to ensure the province provides sports infrastructure and talented players even beyond the 2010 soccer World Cup.
These plans involve scouting for young talent, developing it in order to ensure that the province and the country have enough players to beef up the squad to represent South Africa five years from now.
Announcing the plans in the parliamentary sitting here, Sport and Recreation MEC Amichand Rajbansi said R15-million had been set aside to carry out talent identification programmes, some of which were already underway.
MEC Rajbansi said R7.5-million would go towards Sport and Recreation facilities while another R7.5-million would be spent on sport co-ordination.
The process of talent identification had begun in eThekwini, Umzinyathi, Zululand, Mgungundlovu and Amajuba District municipalities, said the MEC.
The work that was being carried out, he said, was under the close and constant scrutiny of the political oversight committee.
"We hope to draw more young people in rural areas, in organized sport and building the necessary infrastructure, including stadiums to support the initiative," added the MEC.
He also urged the Mayor of eMtshezi local municipality Phiwokwakhe Sokhela to submit a business plan to the department so that the area could also benefit from the initiative by having a proper facility for public use.
He also pointed out that the department's mandate of getting the province actively involved in a number of sporting codes was already starting to bear fruit as KZN had participated in a number of events at national level and received accolades for being well organised. -
New taxi terminal to improve service for long-distance travel
By Aziz Hartley
Tax commuters travelling long distances are set to benefit from a R6 million terminal that opened yesterday at the Bellville Transport Interchange.
Taxi associations welcomed the terminal and said they were pleased long-distance taxis could now be better co-ordinated.
The facility, which starts operating today, has a waiting lounge, ablution block as well as other facilities for the comfort of travellers.
It is also equipped with a clinic that will provide free HIV/Aids testing.
Mayoral executive committee member responsible for transport, roads and stormwater, Danile Landingwe, said the terminal was planned after construction of the R27 million transport interchange began.
He said while efficient public transport, especially taxis, was crucial in the city's preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, more should be done to educate taxi operators and motorists about using public roads.
Landingwe said taxi drivers faced various pressures that lead to them flouting regulations.
"The operator tells his driver that he wants the driver to reach a certain target. Then taxis drivers also rush because passengers say they are late. The driver has to face two types of pressures - that of the operator and that of passengers," he said.
He said more should be done to ensure dedicated traffic lanes are used by taxis and buses, and not other vehicles, and that this problem will be addressed in the next three months.
Council of Amalgamated Taxi Associations (Cata) representative Alfred Pupu said taxi operators were determined to clean up their act, but that provincial and national transport departments should do more to have the Operating Licensing Board work
efficiently.
"We also request the government to speed up the taxi recapitalisation programme so all of us can be ready in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup" Pupu said.
Said Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) deputy chairman Peter Thethani: "This is a good thing as it will make long distance travelling easier for both commuters and drivers.
"We welcome the terminal as an important link in the public transport system."
Nelspruit to Get a Stadium
BuaNews (Tshwane)
NEWS
October 25, 2005
Posted to the web October 25, 2005
By Sizwe samaYende
Nelspruit
Even if FIFA does not choose Mpumalanga to host 2010 soccer World Cup matches, plans will go ahead to build a sports stadium in the provincial capital.
Deputy manager at the Mbombela municipality and head of the provincial bidding team, Roelf Kotze, says a proper stadium in the city was long overdue.
"The stadium might be different to what a world cup soccer stadium would be," Mr Kotze said.
"All the hype and excitement about the world cup would be gone, and we'd sit down and re-plan."
He said Mpumalanga still had a good chance to host World Cup games after making a presentation to a 13-member FIFA technical team
last Thursday.
Mpumalanga has proposed building a 40 000-seater stadium on a community-owned farm at Mataffin just outside Nelspruit at a cost of R335 million.
The Mdluli clan owns this prime piece of agricultural property after regaining ownership following a successful restitution land claim.
"We're quite confident after showing FIFA what we can offer. We were able to answer all their questions," Mr Kotze said.
The delegation also took a quick tour to inspect potential training venues such as KaNyamazane stadium near Nelspruit, KaBokweni stadium near White River and the Nelspruit rugby stadium.
They then flew to Mozambique and Swaziland, also to inspect potential training venues there since the two countries are merely an average of 100km from Mpumalanga.
Nelspruit is bidding against Kimberley in the Northern Cape, Polokwane in Limpopo and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape to host the world's greatest soccer showpiece.
The 2010 matches will be played on eight stadia across South Africa, the first African country to host the soccer World Cup.