South African government's expenditure on the 2010 Soccer World Cup will be upwards of 30 billion rand (3.75 billion U.S. dollars), a mid-term report released on Tuesday showed.
Twenty billion rand has so far been allocated as direct investment in infrastructure and a larger spending program for the quadrennial event, which will for the first time be held on the African soil.
With only 815 days before the 2010 World Cup kick-off, South African Sport Minister Mike Stofile said government preparations for the event were on track, the South African Press Association (SAPA) reported.
He pointed out that the responsibility for organizing the World Cup was that of the Local Organizing Committee and that government had only to create conditions for the smooth hosting of the tournament.
"This report shows that we have complied with literally every guarantee that we have made, we even went beyond that," he was quoted as saying.
The report showed that building of the stadiums in nine host cities was on track.
Preparations for transport, information and communication technologies, electricity supply, safety and security, economic and social legacy projects, tourism and communication, were also underway.
South African government and organizers have repeatedly assured the country's capability to host a successful World Cup, brushing off fears over its high crime rate, shortage of public transport, and most recently a crunching crisis of power supply.
The National Treasury has allocated 200 million rand to the Department of Minerals and Energy for securing electricity generators for the key 2010 World Cup venues.
Eskom, South Africa's state-owned electricity company that supplies 95 percent of power for the country, has given assurances that there would be uninterrupted power to all match venues during the tournament, the SAPA reported.
Stofile handed the report highlighting government's preparations to Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at a function in Pretoria, capital of the country.
Various members of the 2010 Local Organizing Committee, government ministers and soccer personalities attended the handover ceremony.
"We are very satisfied that we are on course," Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2008)