Preparations

Five new stadiums have been built for the tournament, and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.

In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with projects such as the Gautrain and the new Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) titled Rea Vaya.Danny Jordaan, the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, has said that he expects all stadiums for the tournament to be completed by October 2009.

The country is also going to implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements, including a temporary restriction of flight operation in the airspace surrounding the stadiums.

The readiness of this African nation to host one of the biggest events in a sports that is worshiped by millions has received positive response from FIFA. FIFA has rated the readiness of South Africa at eight on a scale of 10 with the hope that they would be completely ready before the matches actually start.

Construction strike

70,000 construction workers who were supposed to be working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs on 8 July 2009. The majority of the workers receive R2500 per month (about £192, €224 or $313), but the unions allege that some workers are grossly underpaid. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike will go on until FIFA assesses penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. The World Cup organising committee downplayed the strike and expressed confidence that the stadiums will be ready.

Transport

Major road networks have been improved to cater for the expected influx of people coming to the country who will be travelling to and from the match stadiums. The Gautrain (underground rail network) will be complete in time for the opening game, but only limited lengths of the route.

Major metros have also updated their current public bus systems to cater for visitors. Websites such as Vaya Nathi have been created for host city visitors to view bus route information in host cities.