BuaNews (Tshwane)
Bathandwa Mbola
19 March 2008
Pretoria — The Department of Minerals and Energy and Eskom have guaranteed an uninterrupted supply of electricity to key 2010 FIFA World Cup installations, according to a new state-of-readiness report.
According to a 2010 Mid-Term Government Report compiled by the 2010 FIFA World Cup Government Unit, South Africa will be able to host a successful world cup.
The report, which provides feedback from various government departments as part of implementing 2010 FIFA World Cup government guarantees and obligations, noted that Eskom has established a 2010 unit to attend to the needs of the FIFA operations.
"Eskom has subsequently guaranteed that there will be an uninterrupted power supply to all match venues during the tournament."
It has also given an unambiguous assurance that the municipalities will be able to provide the necessary support to ensure that all the power supply requirements to successfully host the matches are met.
The assurance comes at a time when the country is faced with power supply shortages due to the increased demand for energy, owing to the high rate of growth and the continued reliance on coal as a primary source of energy.
The report mentions that apart from the immediate demand-side management programmes to reduce energy consumption in the immediate term, the various measures which will be taken over the next 18 months will show significant results by 2010.
Efficient lighting programmes, solar water heating programmes, smart metering, switching from using liquid petroleum gas as an energy source especially in cooking, and a number of other steps are all expected to result in considerable savings.
Government expects to meet the "real target" of between 2 000 and 3 500 Megawatts of electricity being saved by the time the world cup kicks off.
The state utility will increase power generation capacity thorough its investment strategy, and there will also be an investment in maintenance of existing infrastructure by local government.
The National Treasury has made an allocation of about R200 million to the department for the securing generators which are required by FIFA as primary source of power supply.
Other interventions include the establishment of the Electricity Supply Steering Committee to identify risks and recommend appropriate strategies.
"In addition, all matters of power supply will be prioritised in strategic 2010 fora, including the 2010 Inter-Ministerial Committee, the Technical Coordinating Committee and the Local Organising Committee."
On safety and security, the report detailed a Safety and Security Plan.
This was compiled by the South African Police Services (SAPS) and submitted to the 2010 Inter-Ministerial Committee.
The plan entails working with international agencies to gather safety and security information with a focus on border security at ports of entry, including land, sea and air borders.
About 31 000 police officers are being trained for deployment for the world cup
However, the report says the challenge in this area is to increase public confidence; locally and internationally and the reduction of the levels of contact crimes.
Regarding the provision of high quality medical and emergency services, the report indicates that a technical task team will be set up with representatives drawn from host cities, provinces, private health providers, professional organisations and the military medical services.
The group focus on various areas such as emergency medical service, communicable diseases, environmental health, port health in stadiums, provision of primary health care and the establishment of command and control points as well as ensuring that accurate information is communicated on matters of health.
"Furthermore, the accreditation of foreign health professionals and accompanying teams; licensing of medicines and equipment, control of communicable diseases and measures to monitor food integrity have been addressed," the report read.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 BuaNews. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
