By Luke Alfred
South Africa's five new World Cup stadiums and the FNB Stadium upgrade are expected to cost R9.1-billion - a staggering increase on the R2-billion projected in the 2010 Bid Book.
The Bid Book included only two new stadiums out of the 13 venues for matches.
But as the costs rise, world football authorities are becoming increasingly alarmed at the fact that no serious construction has begun on any of the facilities.
Franz Beckenbauer, chairman of the 2006 World Cup organising committee, criticised South Africa's local organising committee for "working against each other", slowing down preparations.
Municipal greed and government bureaucracy are adding to a situation described by Sepp Blatter, the president of football world governing body Fifa, as one in which he has yet to see "the pickaxes and spades needed to start the work". When broken down on a stadium-by-stadium basis, the provisional costs for 2010 are:
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth (R1.1-billion);
The figure of R9.1-billion was reached by using the halfway figure of R2.8-billion for the Green Point Stadium and estimating that the FNB upgrade would cost R1.3-billion.
Dennis Mumble, executive director of the local organising committee (LOC), told the Sunday Times that stadium managers and the construction industry were caught in a 2010 dilemma.
"We want to see the building happening quickly, but we also understand that we have to be accountable for public money," he said.
"We have to follow the Municipal Finance Management Act, which is very prescriptive on how the money is spent. If we follow it to the letter we won't be in time for the (June 2009) Confederations Cup."
Complicating a difficult process is the role played by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
It will disburse funds and ask all World Cup municipalities to furnish it with business plans. Critics say the bank has dragged its heels and that much that could have been done last year had been left for this year.
A bank representative, however, told the Sunday Times that the DBSA was only involved with the disbursement of preliminary 2010 funds. "We only manage planning funding - the government has yet to decide how the majority of the funding is paid to the municipalities."
Adding to an already convoluted situation is the sense in government that municipalities have chanced their arm on their provisional costings, particularly as the state will foot the bill.
Sunday Times
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
