Tag Archives: Grand Parade

Cape Town scores on first two World Cup matches

The City of Cape Town has described the hosting of the first two World Cup matches at Cape Town Stadium as “without any major hitches”, and has expressed its satisfaction with the overall smooth running of the events, and the “good jol” enjoyed by the fans.

Mondays’ match between Italy and Paraguay had all the potential to go off the skids, with pouring rain, hail and freezing cold weather before and during the match, as well as a strike by the staff of Stallion Security prior to the start of the match.  The soccer fans dressed warmly, and barely complained about the weather on Twitter, despite estimates that the temperatures had dropped to below zero inside the Stadium.  They were barely aware that a strike had been threatened, and that the police had brought in SA Police Services (SAPS) students, with World Cup volunteers also helping in providing security services.

The match on Monday was attended by 62869 spectators, 17670 of them walking along the fan walk to the stadium, and 18 500 walking back to the city centre.   The new MyCiTi shuttle to the Stadium was used by 15000 spectators, and 10 000 used it to get back to the city Civic Centre.   The train service was used by 15000 fans.   The park-and-ride service at Century City and at UCT were the two most highly used such facilities.   A significant number of fans used their cars to get into the city, probably due to the weather, and this caused a big traffic gridlock on roads into the city, especially on the Eastern Boulevard.  The adverse weather also led to reduced attendance at the five Fan Fest areas.

Last Friday’s match between France and Uruguay attracted 61400 spectators.   The rail service was used by 20000 spectators, 11000 used the MyCiTi shuttle bus service and 30000 walked the Fan Mile to get to the Stadium.   The Fan Park on the Grand Parade had to be closed, with 42 000 visitors throughout the day. It is estimated that 250 000 persons visited the city center, and 100 000 the V&A Waterfront on that day. 

The City of Cape Town has requested that soccer fans make their way to the Stadium as early as they can (gates open 3,5 hours prior to the start of a match) and to travel light, to reduce the security search time.  Information can be found on the City’s website www.capetown.gov.za or by calling tel. 0800 65 64 63.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

World Cup Concert kicks off the world’s greatest sport tournament

The World Cup 2010 Kickoff Concert taking place at Orlando Stadium in Soweto in Johannesburg this afternoon has been strangely shrouded in secrecy as far as the music stars performing is concerned.  It is the first step in the final countdown to the start of the World Cup tomorrow.

What is known for sure is that Shakira has arrived, and that she will be singing the official World Cup song ‘Waka Waka’ with Freshlyground.  Other performers known to attend are the Black Eyed Peas, Goldfish, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Kwani Experience, Tumi Molekane, Loyiso Bala, Lira, Angelique Kidjo, Blk Jks, Hugh Masakela, K’Naan, Juanes, Soweto Gospel Choir, The Parletones, and Vieux Farka Toure, according to the 2010 World Cup website.  The Concert has been criticised by local performers, for not including enough local musicians.

The World up Kickoff Concert will be broadcast on SABC at 20h00.  The German TV station ZDF will be broadcasting the show from 20h15, and the presenters will be talkshow host Thomas Gottschalk and ex-Miss South Africa Jo-Ann Strauss, presenting in German.

On the Grand Parade Cape Town kicks off its own “Cape Town Welcomes the World” concert from 14h00 today.   Local bands will perform, and R Kelly is the star musician who will also perform at the Kickoff Concert in Johannesburg.  More than 100 artists will perform at the Cape Town Fan Fest on the Grand Parade, reports the Cape Argus.  According to the People’s Post, Jimmy Dludlu performs at 18h00 tomorrow; Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi is on stage on Saturday; Goldfish perform on Sunday at 18h00; on Monday BLK Sonshine and CODA perform from 18h00;  Loyiso is on stage on 16 June, Liquideep on 17 June, and The Rudimentals on 18 June. 

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Grandwest Sweet and Vida e Caffe Sour Service Awards

The Sweet Service Award goes to Yaz of Grandwest, for her care in assisting a 86-year and 94-year old couple to find their seats in the massive Grandwest Arena for the Andre Rieu concert on Sunday afternoon.  The couple’s family had tickets in another section and was not allowed to help them to their seats.   Yaz organised that a staff member showed the couple to their seats, and also bring them water that had been bought for them.  Grandwest also laid on shuttle buses, which took older show guests to a back entrance, which is at the Arena entrance, saving these guests the long wait in the security queue, as well as the long and crowded walk through the Grandwest Casino and Restaurant Court to the Arena.   The Grandwest staff were most efficient in dealing with such a large crowd of Rieu fans. (Rieu announced in his show that he and his orchestra will be back in Cape Town on the Grand Parade, opposite the City Hall, next March).

The Sour Service Award goes to Vida e Caffe in Piazza da Luz, Regent Road, in Sea Point.   Two staff members stood at the counter, looking ready to take the order last Sunday.  A cup of cappuccino (size specified) and an orange juice was ordered.  Neither of the two staff took the order, so it had to be repeated.  There was no apology. The manager Kenny also could not explain the order problem, and was rude.  He was asked to bring the number of the Vida head office and write down the names of himself and his colleague.  He did not bring the details, and after a 15 minute wait, the client went to the counter.  He told the customer to wait, saying he was too busy to write the details down.   In addition to this, ice was brought to the table in a chipped glass.     Another staff member was seen washing a cup under running water, without using dishwashing liquid or a cloth or sponge.   On contacting the Head Office the next day (Head Office is closed on weekends!), it emerged that the customer had been given the incorrect telephone number.   The Operations Manager Paul promised to get back to the customer, but has not done so 4 days later.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

Volunteers will be the face of the FIFA 2010 World Cup

About 18 300 volunteers, out of close to 68 000 applicants, have been appointed in key strategic areas, to assist in the running of the 2010 World Cup at the ten stadiums around the country.   About 70 % of the volunteers are resident in South Africa, while the rest of the volunteers come from the other 31 qualifying nations.

The training of the 2 500 volunteers selected for Cape Town took place ten days ago, and ran smoothly, given the size of the group.  Volunteers were told that they are the face of South Africa for the event, and will act as important tourism ambassadors.

Functional areas in which the selected volunteers will provide support are accreditation, administration, IT and telecommunications, environmental services, language support, logistic services, marketing, media, protocol services, transportation, volunteer management, welcome and information services, rights protection programme, spectator services, ticketing, and hospitality services.   Most Cape Town volunteers will start working from early June, and will be mainly based at the Volunteer Centre at the Cape Town Stadium.

Volunteers were told: “Hosting the World Cup in South Africa is a once in a lifetime opportunity for many people, the story of which will be told for decades.  Not only will you be involved in a world class event and making history, you will meet people from all nationalities, learn new skills and have the opportunity to work with cutting edge technology and experts in the fields of event and sports management”.

In Cape Town the volunteers saw many videos, to help explain aspects of the World Cup, and to communicate key tourism facts about South Africa, as well as about their Host City Cape Town.  So, for example, volunteers learnt that South Africa has eight UNESCO World Heritage sites: Richtersveld, Greater St Lucia, Sterkfontein Caves, Robben Island, Vredefort Dome, Cape floral kingdom, Drakensberg Park, and Mapungubwe National Park.   They learnt that Cape Town has five of the six most visited tourism attractions: Robben Island, Table Mountain, the Winelands, Cape Point and the V & A Waterfront.  Sadly, the Southern Right whales were not included in the training programme.

The volunteers were also introduced to the Cape Town Stadium, which will be a 68 000 seater stadium for the World Cup, and then reduced to 55 000 seats.   The stadium was built in three years by 2 500 workers, the roof weighs 4 700 tons, the stadium has 500 toilets, 16 lifts, and 115 entry turnstiles.   Volunteers were given a ticket each to attend the two soccer matches on Saturday a week ago, so that they could experience the stadium first hand.   The Cape Town Stadium has been praised by FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke as the best World Cup stadium of all.   Cape Town will host the largest hospitality villages of all the stadiums in South Africa during the World Cup.

The legacy of the World Cup for Cape Town was explained, with a R 4,5 million stadium and green park area surrounding it, the Athlone and Philippi stadium upgrades, the Cape Town station upgrade, the Grand Parade upgrade, the Cape Town International upgrade, the Hospital Bend traffic upgrade, and the R3,2 billion Bus Rapid Transport system.

The vision was declared to be to host a memorable event, which will enhance the image of South Africa and Africa, and to build new partnerships, leading the country to “be significant global players in all fields of human endeavour”.  The mission was defined as “mobilising South Africans to organise an African FIFA World Cup with precision, innovation and flair”, to “extend an unforgettable South African welcome to the world”, and to “collaborate with all stakeholders in a dynamic partnership based on integrity and excellence”.

Volunteers were advised to not defend South Africa if they were challenged about negative aspects, and to promote the good about the country, to smile, and to display national pride.

On the last day of the three-day training program the volunteers met in their functional areas, and this is when they really got excited about the role they will play, and the opportunities they have to possibly see or even meet their soccer star heroes, given their functional responsibility.  In May the volunteers meet at the Cape Town Stadium in their functional groups, for detailed orientation at the stadium, and for training in their functional area of responsibility.   Let the games begin!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com