FiFa World Cup 2010 | South Africa

Five new stadiums are to be built for the tournament (three new match venues and two new practice grounds), and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.^[6]

In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with projects such as the Gautrain and the new Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) titled Rea Vaya.^[7] Danny Jordaan, the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee has said that he expects all stadiums for the tournament to be completed by October 2009.^[8]

The country is also going to implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements.^[9]

Construction strike

70,000 construction workers^[10] who were supposed to be working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs on 8 July 2009. The majority of the workers receive R2500 per month (about £192, €224 or $313), but the unions allege that some workers are grossly underpaid – some receiving as little as R40 (£3.11) a week. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike will go on until FIFA assesses penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. The World Cup organising committee downplayed the strike and expressed confidence that the stadiums will be ready