South Africa: Joburg is ready for Afcon spectacle
The City of Johannesburg is counting down the days to the start of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2013, which kicks off on 19 January.
Johannesburg is one of the four cities that will host the tournament, and both the opening and closing matches will be played here. Thousands of foreign and domestic tourists are expected to congregate in South Africa, with Johannesburg being apex of this gathering. Locals are eagerly looking forward to the first big international soccer event in Jozi since the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
“Joburg has proved itself to be Africa’s sporting capital of choice,” says Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) responsible for Community Development in City of Johannesburg, Councilor Chris Vondo. “Afcon offers us another opportunity to showcase our world-class sporting facilities, including the FNB Stadium and the four training venues, the Orlando, Milpark, Rand and Dobsonville Stadiums. It’s also an opportunity to showcase our city and to demonstrate our readiness to host events of this nature and magnitude.”
The city’s municipality, which began the 100-day countdown for the tournament on 11 October, is ready and able to provide all of the support services so crucial to the success of an event like Afcon.
“Johannesburg’s imposing, 94 700 seater-FNB Stadium will host three matches as well as the opening and closing ceremonies: two matches on the opening day (19 January 2013) and the final game on February 10, 2013. Notably the opening game is between Bafana Bafana and Cape Verde Islands on January 19,” says Clr Vondo. “We expect a capacity attendance for both the opening and closing matches, he says.
The City will ensure spectators access the stadium with ease and convenience. As far as transport is concerned, commuters using the Gautrain will be able to use the Rea Vaya bus service to connect to the stadium. A further 135 buses will be running throughout the city to ensure that fans get to the games on time and back home after the match.
To facilitate the safe and efficient free flow of human traffic into Soccer City, the City of Johannesburg has identified seven sufficiently secured park ‘n ride facilities in various parts of the city, where soccer fans can park their vehicles for a nominal fee and board buses that will take them to the soccer venue and back.
PRASA, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, will be providing additional train services to FNB. So getting to matches hosted in the City of Johannesburg during the tournament will be easy.
Traffic, security and emergency services are fully geared up to make the spectator experience in Johannesburg memorable.
Says MMC Vondo: “The safety of everyone involved, from players to coaches and fans, is a top priority for us. Emergency services at the game will be particularly strong, and will consist of fire engines, operations controllers, disaster management specialists, event safety officers and medics on bikes.”
Electricity supply management and sanitation services have not been forgotten either. On match days, technical teams will be stationed at key electricity supply nodes, so that in the event that there is an unplanned power outage, supply can be restored timeously.
And the City’s waste management service, Pikitup, will be out in force too. Dedicated teams will keep Park and Ride facilities clean on match days, and extra personnel will be deployed to keep the city’s streets clean for the duration of the event. Large refuse bins will be provided at both the stadium and at key transport hubs, and eight-ton tippers will be used to remove refuse timeously.
“The City of Johannesburg and its people made the key matches of the 2010 Fifa World Cup into events to remember,” says Clr Vondo, “and we’re looking to creating more lifetime memories with the visitors to our City during the Afcon tournament.”
