South Africa to spend $2bn on the 2010 World Cup

The South African government has announced that they will to spend more than 15bn rand ($2bn) on hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Finance minister Trevor Manuel announced the figures to the South African parliament on Wednesday. Most of this money will be spent on building new football stadiums and refurbishing existing ones.

The money will be spent over the next three years but there is a lot of public concern that South Africa will be poorly prepared and not able to afford to host the event. More money is being spent for instance on the stadiums instead of infrastructure that can be used after 2010.

Mr Manuel outlined his plans for the World Cup while delivering a medium-term budget policy statement to parliament.

Mr Manuel said that 8.4bn rand ($1.1bn) would be spent in building five new stadiums and upgrading existing facilities, while 6.4bn rand ($800m) was to be invested in public transport initiatives and supporting the infrastructure.

"The 2010 Fifa World Cup provides South Africa and the region with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase our land and our hospitality in a sporting festival that knows no bounds," Mr Manuel added.

A huge worry for tourists and South Africans is the matter for security and money has been set aside to help fight crime.

The government plans to recruit 8,000 extra police officers while private 2,000 civilians will provide security during the tournament.