The City of Cape Town says the Netball World Cup, hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, has been running smoothly so far. Several public viewing areas have been set up across the city, enabling those who cannot afford tickets, to watch the matches live with other supporters. Small business owners are also part of the excitement around the tournament.
The Khayelitsha OR Tambo Sports Complex is the largest of the four public viewing areas. Although quiet in the morning, it was buzzing over the weekend. The public is invited to enjoy the world cup with others, even during load shedding.
“In the evening those who come from work come join us, the vibe is good. There’s some atmosphere at the viewing sites so we hope to see you there…semi-finals, finals time, it’s going to be busy, already people are saying they will come. We’re expecting full houses at all of the sites during the weekend, at all of the sites. Saturday and Sunday,” says Franklin Anthony of the City of Cape Town, Recreation & Parks Department.
In between fixtures, fun games and even netball matches between local clubs are played. At each of the venues, small vendors are selling snacks and food. It’s a saving grace after the COVID-19 pandemic all but wiped out some businesses, overnight.
“Getting hold of this one was like great news to me so I was like very happy to be part of it, yes…we’re looking at about 15 people and that plays a big role, those people haven’t been working for a while and when I phoned them, most of them stay in Manenberg, and as for me, they’re very happy to be part of this because it’s earning,” says Abin Dalvie, vendor at a public viewing area.
At the CTICC where the tournament is under way, a fan park is open for the public. While some rainy, cold weather put a spanner in the works, the city hopes that the coming weekend will bring good weather and a great atmosphere. Safety is one of the city’s core focus areas for the tournament.
“We are incident free so far and we haven’t seen any issues pertaining to any spectators or teams etcetera and we are working very hard to make sure that over all the events footprint is accessible and friendly and combining that with safe means striking the right balance between security fencing and not making it feel like a place with too much security,” JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety & security.
The public viewing areas have big screen televisions that broadcast all the games and they close half an hour after the last match of the day.
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