Botschaft, FIFA WM 2010, Presse
22. Oktober 2010
Berlin, 22 October 2010. The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa participated in a two day conference called “Project South Africa 2010 – Germany 2006: Communal partnerships with a kick!” organized by InWent. Experts from Germany who had participated in organising the World Cup 2006 in Germany had travelled to South Africa before the World Cup and formed partnerships on a communal level to assist their South African counterparts with the strategic preparations and planning of the World Cup. Topics ranged from safety and security, to transport, energy, fan festivals to waste management. The idea was for partners to meet on eye-level and exchange plans, ideas and to facilitate knowledge transfer.
The initiative was organised by InWent – Servicestelle Kommunen in der Einen Welt and supported by the German and South African governments – represented by the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Berlin.
Participating in the conference were the Acting Head of the Mission of the Republic of South Africa, Ms Cassandra Mbuyane-Mokone, and State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Hans-Jürgen Beerfeltz, who delivered speeches.
In her speech, Ms Mbuyane-Mokone said “I believe that the true benefits of the project will still be felt for many years to come in that your counterparts in South Africa have not only been empowered but I am sure that you will agree with me that on both sides many bonds of friendship were formed. This people to people interaction and closer understanding of each other will be one of the most significant contributions of the project and the World Cup.” And she continued: “The individual commitment by all, including the many InWent experts and officials, hugely contributed to ensure that the World Cup will leave a lasting legacy - a legacy of an achievement that will go a long way towards challenging afro-pessimism.”
For the conference many experts who had come from all over Germany and even from South Africa including Major Ben Groenewald from the South African Police Services, exchanged and shared their experiences and new partnerships and networks were formed.
The event ended with an outlook to 2014 and the World Cup in Brazil and since the experience in South Africa had been so enriching for many experts, they assured their participation in the next program from InWent and an exchange between German, South African and Brazilian organizers will be on the agenda.