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"Tone down Fear", Minister Stofile told the Province - 2010-03-01 11:32:00
 

“Tone down Fear”, Minister Stofile told the Province

 

Speaking at the 2010 Government Summit on Thursday February 25 in East London Convention Centre Minister Makhenkesi Stofile assured the provincial leadership that the country as a whole is well on track on preparations for the world cup.

 

 Responding to various reports about the slow rate of ticket sales the minister said, “We have sold well over a million tickets between January and February this year therefore come June 11 there will be no more tickets to sell.”  The minister noted that “while we are busy circulating negative reports on 2010 and speaking down upon ourselves, the whole world is extremely excited about South Africa and we’ve had a number of testimonies in that regard”. 

 

Minister Stofile confirmed that his office is getting proposals for partnerships and business ventures from many heads of states and ministers of sport from other countries.  He added that the world cup is a once in a lifetime opportunity for South Africa and therefore the country must make good use of it. 

 

On her welcoming remarks, Premier Kiviet encouraged the promotion of national and African interests.  “Over and above the successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we should ensure that we put in place programmes that will enable our people to take good advantage of the economic spin-offs of the tournament”, said the Premier.

 

The tournament is bringing a huge boost on skills development on various areas like hospitality, tourism and construction.  That breeds directly from government’s programmes on the respective fields as interventions towards the world cup. 

 

Responding to the question of cascading the opportunities of the world cup from host city to the entire province, MEC Tom said, “Amongst other things tourism packages are put together and those include linking our major towns through airports refurbishments that have recently taken place and major roads upgrades currently underway.”

 

The summit generally encouraged the promotion of Africa’s indigenous product offerings on tourism and hospitality as that will ensure sustainability of the legacy on tourism beyond 2010.

 

Written by:  Zamikhaya Nkonzo

Tel:  040 609 6042

Fax:  086 523 7068

Email:  zamikhaya.nkonzo@otp.ecprov.gov.za