Construction of the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town was on schedule and the city was in the process of selling naming rights and finding a long-term operator for it, mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday.

Zille, who was speaking at the first anniversary celebration of the start of construction, said the naming rights, cost saving engineering and an advance on ticket sales would help manage the costs of the project.

The stadium is being built in preparation for the 2010 soccer World Cup, and has been earmarked for a semi-final.

According to mayoral committee member for finance Ian Neilson, the stadium budget, which was estimated at R3 billion, has now gone up to an estimated R4 billion.

He said national government input had been crucial to the project's success so far.

Zille said the naming rights contracts would be awarded to companies by the middle of the year.

She thanked the 2000 workers at the construction site - who last year went on strike more than once - for their "dedication and hard work under often dangerous conditions".

She also thanked national goverment for its "major financial contribution to the stadium".

Zille said the project had faced many obstacles so far, the biggest of which was public cynicism and disbelief.

But she hoped the stadium would show that South Africa "can get it right".

Zille said the stadium was one third complete and would be ready for handing over to Fifa for inspection by the end of October 2009.

"Today is a milestone in the stadium project and our preparations for 2010," she said.