FIFA this week announced that Cape Town Stadium is “perfect” and is confident that the city will be 100 percent ready to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ by June 11.

Cape Times, FIFA secretary general, Jerome Valcke, said Cape Town was currently 80 percent ready for the big event. The newspaper reported that phase one of the Grand Parade upgrade is now complete. Grand Parade will serve as one of Cape Town’s fan parks during the event and will accommodate about 25,000 people. Greenmarket Square has also been upgraded and will feature a stage by the end of March. Cape Town has undertaken numerous other upgrades in order to efficiently accommodate hundreds of thousands of tourists. These include:

• A R311-million upgrade for Green Point Common, including a nine-hole golf course and upgrade to public recreational areas, due for completion in March.

• A R2.3-billion upgrade for Cape Town international Airport, including a R1.6-billion new terminal building, a five-story parkade, and pedestrian subways and underpasses, which will be completed by March.

• The R610-million M5/Koeberg Interchange, due for completion by the end of April.

• Integrated Rapid Transit stations, which will be complete by the end of April. These include 43 new buses for the inner-city loop, as well as airport and stadium shuttles.

• A R418-million upgrade for Cape Town Station, the first phase of which will be complete by June.

• A significant upgrade for Granger Bay Boulevard, including landscaping and lighting.

• The widening of the M3 outbound lane.