World Cup News - More

The latest cost estimate for Soccer City, Johannesburg's new stadium that will host the World Cup final as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, is R3.3 billion (GBP264 million) which is well above the last estimate of R2.5 billion. The shortfall is being funded by the Johannesburg Council and will require "reprioritising" spending on public services. Similarly, the City of Cape Town will probably have to fork out for the overrun on the City's Green Point stadium of about R500 million, and Durban's Ethekwini Municipality will pay for any shortfall on the Moses Mabhida stadium.

Soccer fans may have to learn some African names of well known places if they want to find their way around easily. For example, Pretoria's new African name is Tshwane, and the City has just won a court action allowing it to mention only the name Tshwane in its world cup Welcome signs. The name Pretoria will not be shown.

Two million world cup tickets have now been sold in the first three sales phases. There are two more phases to go, the fourth phase kicking off last Tuesday. 400,000 tickets for a total of 53 matches are available until April 7th, on a first come, first serve basis.

Newtown in Johannesburg will be hosting a festival during the world cup, offering music, dance, theatre, poetry, literature, craft, film, photography, science, outdoor performances and visual art held in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues.

Cape Town is trying to combat international perceptions of South Africa as an expensive destination ahead of the world cup. Cape Town Tourism have formulated a Code of Responsible Pricing for Cape Town to stop "greedy individuals" capitalizing on a few weeks at the expense of the responsible tourism sector. The first and major guiding principle of the Code is that of ‘Fair Value’ which means that the tourism sector will create fair and reasonable rates for the 2010 FIFA World Cup that are linked to current seasonal rates. The second principle is that of ‘Responsible Tourism’ which highlights Cape Town’s commitment to be a destination that values and promotes its position with regard to taking care of people, the planet and profit to the greater community.

South African is one of the top destinations for adrenalin junkies, according to the travel guide Lonely Planet. The experience of swimming with sharks at Dyer Island made the top 10 of Lonely Planet’s thrill-seekers list as part of their book: 1000 Ultimate Experiences. The entry reads: "Dolphins not edgy enough for you? Try swimming with a great white off Dyer Island. All you have to do is jump in a cage and be lowered into a school of hungry sharks. As they peer in helplessly with those dead black eyes, you might think 'this is soft!' Think again. Smaller sharks have been known to butt their way through the bars. From April to August most operators can almost guarantee the sharks will appear."