Johannesburg hosts FIFA Tournament

More public loos planned for 2010

Written by Ndaba Dlamini
Thursday, 02 October 2008

Getting the city shipshape for the two FIFA tournaments includes focusing on details such as sanitation - and making sure there are enough conveniences for visiting fans.

GIVEN the thousands of football fans expected in Johannesburg in 2009 and 2010, the City plans to provide more public toilets to cater for the influx.

The 2009 Confederations Cup South Africa™, otherwise known as the Festival of Champions, will take place in June and is expected to attract a mainly South African audience to the four host cities.

Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium will host four matches during the tournament,
including the opening and final games.

Then, more than 500 000 people are expected in South Africa the following year for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ - and a large number of these people will be in Johannesburg, which is hosting the opening ceremony, closing ceremony and first and final matches.

On top of this, Soccer City and Ellis Park will host 16 of the 64 World Cup
games, adding to its expected visitor numbers.

"It is for these reasons that the City must ensure that there is adequate provision of sanitation for residents and visitors during the 2010 tournament,"says Malcolm Mogotsi, the deputy director of operations in the City's 2010 Office.

According to FIFA guidelines for public toilets, there must be one toilet for every 100 people. To comply with these guidelines, the City needs to construct new public toilets, upgrade existing public toilets and hire temporary portable toilets.

It plans to upgrade 20 existing public toilets, build eight new public toilets and hire 20 temporary mobile toilets for the duration of the two football tournaments at a cost of about R4-million, according to Mogotsi. The upgrades are over-and-above the existing facilities around the city.

"The number of public toilets that may be built or upgraded may change because we are still busy doing feasibility studies."

Those that are to be upgraded are mainly located at taxi ranks that will serve as major transport hubs during the two events.

The eight new public toilets will be built in the south of Johannesburg, an area that was previously under-serviced, especially around Soccer City Stadium, the proposed public viewing sites and fan parks, Mogotsi explains.

"Due to unavailability of public space around the city centre, no new toilets will be constructed and instead, temporary mobile toilets will be hired during the Confederations Cup and the World Cup."

Mogotsi says the City has identified Elkah Stadium in Soweto and Innes Free Park in Sandton as the official fan parks for the tournaments, "and this is where most of the mobile toilets will be deployed".

To date, Johannesburg has built new toilets and upgraded old ones around Ellis Park, Mary Fitzgerald Square and at other venues. These toilets are secure, modern public conveniences that cater for both genders and disabled people. They are also hygienic, Mogotsi says.

"The construction of new toilets, upgrading of existing toilets and provision of mobile toilets will assist the City to deliver the best World Cup in 2010. The toilets will ensure that the city [has] good sanitary conditions during the tournament and also will ensure the health of the public and visiting fans is not negatively affected."