ECONOMIC CRISIS NO DAMPENER TO WORLD CUP 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Bernama) -- Despite the current economic crisis, South
Africa's preparation for the World Cup 2010 has not been dampened and the
response for one of the most celebrated sporting events has been good.

South African High Commissioner to Malaysia, Sisa Ngombane, told Bernama
after the Africa Day press conference here today, that the first African nation
to host the august event was "putting the final touches" to ensure its smooth
running.

"We have introduced a new transport system, a rapid bus service at all the
designated cities. Our security forces are going through a dry run through other
international tournaments that we have hosted.

"Everything is going well and the first batch of tickets that we released in
May have been sold out. We will release another batch in December via online
ticketing," he said.

According to Ngombane, the people of South Africa were enthusiastic and the
government had informed the people that they could not purchase the tickets at
the stadium gate but to purchase them online.

"We had recently implemented online ticketing, e-ticketing. And this
is new to our people. We had to explain to them that the tickets could only be
purchased online.

"Although we know the world is undergoing an economic crisis, we are
confident of the success of this event.

"The Rand (South African currency) is hovering at 9 Rand for 1 USD.
This makes South Africa very affordable and a good package," Ngombane said.
-- BERNAMA