20091215
independent
A jubilant Cape Town last night took delivery of its spectacular ÂŁ370m World Cup stadium. But elsewhere in South Africa, officials faced claims that the country has wasted resources on state-of-the-art sports facilities that will be white elephants after the final whistle is blown.
The 68,000-seat Cape Town stadium, which has taken 2,500 workers less than three years to build, was formally handed over by the contractors to mayor Dan Plato. "Cape Town stadium will become one of the world's sporting landmarks,'' he said.
Eight World Cup matches will be played there next June and July, including one semi-final. The seaside stadium, which has 37,000 sq metres of glass roofing to protect spectators from the elements, is Cape Town's most expensive building ever.
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