Cape Town Stadium holds up well

Despite the heavy downpour on Monday, the pitch at the Cape Town Stadium was not adversely affected by the inclement weather. According to the City of Cape Town's Director of Communication's Pieter Cronje, the pitch was built according to international standards precisely to deal with such weather.

"The pitch was very well constructed according to international standards and FIFA requirements. Clearly it has been layered in the way that will facilitate drainage. Watching the match last night on a soaked field it was certainly playable. There were one or two slips but by and large the pitch was fine," he told VOC's Breakfast Beat on Tuesday.

Transport

On a different note, Cronje reported that many fans did not make use of public transport as was advised by the City on Monday. "They thought that because of the rain they could take a chance, but obviously if you have that especially at going home time, you will have congestion on the roads in the city and that is unfortunate. I think it just reinforces that it is so much simpler and easier to use public transport. If you come in by taxi, by bus or by rail to the Cape Town station, you just walk about 200-300 metres across to the shuttle pick up point," Cronje said.

He also urged those who have purchased tickets for other matches at the Cape Town stadium to make use of the Fan Walk. "When the weather is fine you must sample the Fan Walk. It is an incredible 2.5 metres of the pedestrian route, from the Central City, across the station right through to Somerset Road and the stadium. It is adorned with flags, there is musical entertainment, people in soccer garb, places to eat and have fun. It is a really fun and cosmopolitan soccer experience."

Strike

When asked about the strike by security guards at the stadium shortly before the gates to the stadium opened on Monday night, Cronje replied that extra security was not procured by the City of Cape Town but by FIFA. "The people in question are not employed by the City of Cape Town. They were contracted by FIFA's Local Organising Committee (LOC) who of course is in charge of the stadium, the perimeter and the entire event.

"So these are contracted service providers that they have used. My understanding is that it is between 400 and 450 safety stewards who help with security matters in support of the police and other security agencies inside the stadium. When they went on strike, the organizing committee at the venue then contacted SAPS and asked them to take control, which they dually did," Cronje explained.

He added that security was beefed up with additional personal from the City of Cape Town. "We supplemented with some of the City's own law enforcement staff and got the numbers there to process the people and at the time of kick off, the stadium was over 90 percent full."

Trains

On a related note, Cronje said that the certain railway stations have a park-and-ride facility. "The railway stations with event transport in our metro are: Kraaifontein, Monta Vista, Eerste River, Khayelitsha, Phillipi, Nyganga, Heideveld, Landsdowne and Plumbstead. We also have a bus park and ride from the Kroonendaal Primary school in Hout Bay and the Camps Bay High School and of course also the University of Cape Town.

"There are facilities to park and then used public transport and that will help in getting you to and from the venue trouble free." Cronje said that thus far the City has had no reports of any damage or problems with the park-and-ride facilities at the various stations.

As for the Fanfests, Cronje said the city published supplements in newspapers last week regarding when the FanFests or Fan Jols would be open. "We urged people to keep them or if they missed it they should collect a copy of the supplement at the library. In it we have complete information about the FanFest or Fan Jols.

"The FanFest at the Grand Parade which has an international flavour will be open everyday of the tournament. The Fan Jols which is Bellville, the sports complex in Mitchells Plain, the OR Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha and Vygieskraal in Athlone will only screen Cape Town matches, Bafana matches and then knock out rounds, quarter finals and the finals," Cronje related.