Bar Owners Hope to Cash In With Strip Club During World Cup

This piece looks at business owners in Rustenberg who are hoping to cash in on visitors to the country for the World Cup by running a shuttle service between their bar and nearby "gentleman's club".

Lourens Opperman, 45, and Louis Coetzee, 40, own Castle Corner in Rustenburg in the North West Province where six matches will be played at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium and where the England squad will be based.

Opperman also runs a "gentlemen's club" a few kilometres out of the city where they plan to lay on a courtesy "bonk bus" to transport visitors.

"In town we have a pub and outside is the club," says Coetzee.

They will hire buses to run a shuttle service to the sprawling estate.

Laying on the ladies for the World Cup
Independent Online
March 5, 2010

Construction Concerns Spark Controversy Over England World Cup Team Camp

Controversy has erupted in England and South Africa, as reports about incomplete construction at the selected England World Cup team's home base Phokeng, Rustenberg.

At a media conference at Sun City with 19 team coaches, Valcke and local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan on Tuesday tried to reassure the media that the England team camp was almost complete and already had people staying in the hotel.

The English press reported this week that the England base camp was little more than a construction site, with only half of the 72 rooms ready, the pitch not yet built and the medical centre nothing but cement and bricks.

LOC pictures tell half the story
Independent Online
February 24, 2010

The Five First-Round Cities

This post takes a look at the five hot cities hosting only first-round matches during the World Cup.

Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Polokwane and Rustenburg are all at high altitude. The first three could be bitterly cold at night during the tournament although Rustenburg has mild, sunny, southern hemisphere winters. Nelspruit is in the hot, dry lowveldt and should be comfortable.

Most of the World Cup managers are thought to be planning training camps around Pretoria, Rustenburg, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg to prepare their players for the thinner air.

First round venues for 2010 World Cup
Independent Online
November 30, 2009

Transit Bogged Down During Confederations Cup

Transportation in the four host cities of the Confederations Cup has been a challenge due to crowds and delays in the development of public transit systems.

Johannesburg was supposed to have a new rapid bus system in place for the Confederations Cup, but the all-powerful minibus taxi industry, fearing for its market share, put the brakes on the project. The first phase of the bus-rapid-transit (BRT) is now only due for completion by September.

Confed Cup still dogged by transport difficulties
Mail & Guardian
June 19, 2009

Security Buffer Zone Spreads Around Stadia

Security concerns related to South Africa's high rate of violent crime have caused police and FIFA officials to create a 1KM-radius security zone around stadia used in the Confederations Cup. Anyone trying to get into the stadia will pass through a metal detector. Assigned seating is also seen as a security move, mainly to protect spectators from overcrowding.

The assigned seating is meant to prevent overcrowding or the risk of a stampede and, unlike at local matches, nobody without a ticket is allowed to enter the stadium grounds.

About 8 000 police officers are deployed for the Confederations Cup, which is also being hosted in Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Rustenburg.

SA tightens security around Confed stadiums
Independent Online
June 17, 2009