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2010 World Cup

Nelson Mandela Stadium
(Port Elizabeth)

Capacity: 48 000
Budget: R981-million
Architect: Dominic Bonnesse Architects
Contractor: Grinaker/Interbeton/Ibhayi JV
Start building: March 15, 2007
Target LOC/Fifa completion date: December 30, 2008
Scheduled completion date: December 14, 2008

2010 World Cup matches:

Five first-round matches, one second-round match and one quarterfinal match.

Details and progress:

Of all the five stadiums used for the 2009 Confederations Cup, the Nelson Mandela Stadium will be the only new one. That means the building has a very tight schedule. After a slowish start, the construction is presently up to speed. The stadium will get some additional money from the city and provincial budgets to cover for costs that are above the budget stipulated by the national treasury.
2009 Confederations Cup venue

The City

Port Elizabeth was officially founded in 1820 to accommodate the British Settlers, but the first documentation of the area goes as far back as 1488 when Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias made landfall en route to the East.

Today it is a thriving tourist destination, home to South Africa’s motor vehicle industry and also one of the most important sea ports in the Southern Hemisphere. It now forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality which was formed in 2001 and includes surrounding areas like Uitenhage and Dispatch.

There is a big drive to get top-flight soccer back to the city ahead of the 2010 World Cup, with First Division side Bay United, who were recently bought by Inzingwe Capital from Volkswagen South Africa.

In fact, the Eastern Cape has not had a team in the Premier League since Bush Bucks relegation in 2005/06.