Soweto - In exactly 1000 days from Friday, 14 September, over a decade of planning and anticipation would have been realised when the first FIFA World Cup to be held on African soil, kicks off in South Africa.

Speaking today (Thursday) ahead of this historic milestone, Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA Local Organising Committee (LOC) Danny Jordaan, assured that the South African construction sector had the capacity to build stadia for the event on time.

"We might have certain difficulties in the process because there's nothing we can do if there's a strike or the truck could not deliver the cement, but there is capacity in the construction industry and I'm confident we'll finish on time," he said.

On Saturday, 15 September, all nine host cities will be staging celebratory events, with the main one being hosted in Tshwane.

President Thabo Mbeki is expected to speak at the event with other major role-players, including Dr Jordaan, LOC chairperson Irvin Khoza, Minister of Sport Makhenkisi Stofile, Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad and Deputy Minister of Finance Jabu Moleketi.

The countdown event is seen as an opportunity to update the South African and international public about the progress made in the quest to deliver a successful world cup.

Dr Jordaan said the celebrations would give respective host cities an opportunity to report on their state of preparedness.

The event signals an operational phase, triggering the country to be ready for the Confederations Cup which will be held in 2009.

The 2010 CEO explained that already four stadiums earmarked for the Confederations Cup were ready for the tournament, with only one stadium in Port Elizabeth currently under construction.

"The stadium must be completed in 24 months which is the tight timeline because the normal time to complete a stadium is between 31 and 34 months."

He further explained that five other stadiums that were being built from scratch were within the set timelines, with the Soccer City stadium being ahead of the schedule.

Soccer City is the venue for the opening and closing match of the world cup.

The four other stadiums currently being built are Green point in Cape Town, Mbombela in Nelspruit, Peter Mokaba Sport Complex in Polokwane and Moses Mabhida in Durban.

The existing four that are merely receiving minor facelifts are Loftus in Pretoria, Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Royal Ba***eng in Rustenburg and Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein.

"We also have established a Host City Forum that sits on a monthly basis to discuss progress in the respective cities

"The Special Measures Bill that looks at issues of VISAs ...and working permits is also in place," he said.

He further indicated that a committee had been established to deal with ambush marketing.

With the Confederations Cup even closer, taking place in 2009, he said the match schedules and team allocation had been finalised.

Issues of the business plan, mascot and slogan are also finalised while the broadcast rights are nearly complete.

He guaranteed that South Africans will view the match on High Definition TV as well as full broadcasts on their mobile phones. - BuaNews