UGU is raring to GO

RUTH Bhengu, deputy mayor of the Ugu District Municipality, knows that 2010 is a marketing event of note for South Africa.
She says, "During the apartheid era, South Af¬rica was isolated from the global market. After 1994, we staged several international events, namely the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World cup, the World Growth and Development Summit and the World Aids Conference. These were all to promote South Africa in the world market.”
Ruth feels that as a result of the popularity of soccer in South Africa, the country has been placed in a strategic position. The spin-offs for the country having won the rights to stage the 2010 FIFA World Cup, are enormous.
"The stadiums which have been built will benefit the country in the future. The stadium that has been built in Gamalakhe was delayed until we knew we had done it right. We wanted to ensure that, after the hype of the games had died down and life re¬turned to normal, the design was such that it would encourage growth.
"A sustainability plan was put together. Due to the amount of foreign investment in the building of the stadium, we ensured that those countries which had hosted similar events, and which had built simi¬lar stadiums, had input to the design and sustain¬ability of the stadium.
'We were determined that it was not going to end up as a 'white elephant after the 2010 Soccer World Cup:' Although Ugu was granted 'Camp Base' status, it was one of five KwaZulu-Natal municipalities which received this award.
These 'bases' are areas where soccer teams can practice, receive training and perhaps acclimatise before the big matches held in the larger centres.
"The fact that we will be hosting fringe matches is great. What is of paramount importance is the other key factor in this issue ... service.
"We have trained our staff, from hotel waiters to petrol attendants, regarding the importance of first ¬class service. I don't want our guests to experience the poor service I experienced before these games, way back in 2008.
"I was staying in a reputable five star hotel in KZN, and received the most atrocious service you could imagine. The housekeeping service was not available until 7.30am and maintenance was not available until 8am.
''This was not acceptable, and we knew our in¬ternational visitors would not accept service of this standard. The training we put in place ensured it never happened.
"It is all good and well to have been given the right to stage the World Cup, but if we cannot supply the serv¬ice to go with it, then we have lost out:”
Time was another of the factors which had to be taken into consideration.
'When we have teams that are staying in the Ugu district, in our wonderful hotels, they need to know that everything will work perfectly.
"If they are playing a match in Dur¬ban at 3pm, they need to know that the hotel will be able to cater for their needs, and ensure that they will be in Durban in time for the match.
"Transport, laundry, catering ... all have to be per¬fect to ensure timetables are met.
"I am confident that KwaZulu-Natal, and Ugu in particular, will meet the challenges which will face us when staging the 2010 soccer championships. We are all going to be proud of our efforts."





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