Projects related to the requirements of South Africa's hosting of the 2010 soccer World Cup will receive early priority, the country's Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said in his 2005 National Budget speech yesterday.

Hosting the World Cup holds large potential benefits for the country, but also some significant risk, and government remains committed to funding a proportion of the stadium infrastructure requirements. Once these requirements have been finalised, allocations will be reflected in the 2006 budget.

In its review of this year's National Budget, Treasury indicated that it is a critical priority for government to put in place coordinating mechanism and dedicated capacity to prepare for 2010.

An additional amount of R68-million has been allocated to Sports and Recreation South Africa, over a period of three year, as part of the State's medium-term estimates, to establish a dedicated programme management unit to deal with government's role in the 2010 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Manuel reported that government is mindful that infrastructure spending by municipalities and public enterprises is expected to grow strongly in the years ahead, complemented by rising spending on public assets through public-private partnerships.

Significant projects include the completion of the Port of Ngqura, the Berg River Water Scheme, in the Western Cape, and further development of the Olifants River and Groot Letaba River dam systems, in Mpumalanga, as well as the recommissioning of the Camden, Komati and Grootvlei power plants and upgrading of the Matimba plant.

Also in the pipeline are Transnet's R4,9-billion locomotive and wagon fleet renewal, the construction of a hydroelectric pumped-storage scheme at Braamhoek and two coastal gas turbine plants, an investment of some R27-billion in electricity transmission and distribution networks over the next five years, and the building of the pebble-bed modular reactor demonstration plant.

Other projects include the upgrading of the Coallink rail line to Richards Bay and the Sishen-Saldanha link, a new container terminal for Durban and port capacity expansion in Cape Town, Richards Bay and Saldanha, as well as the building of a new multipurpose Durban-Johannesburg-Pretoria fuel product pipeline.

An amount of R2-billion has been approved for the improvement of the Durban and Cape Town container terminals, with R1,4-billion set aside for Durban and R600-million for Cape Town.

In terms of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, Manuel pointed out that an additional R3-billion would be allocated for transport infrastructure and services.

He also stated that value addition in the construction sector grew by over 6% in 2004.

“There is strong growth in the residential property market. Further impetus will be given to building and construction growth by inner city refurbishment, encouraged by our urban renewal tax incentive, accelerated investment in low-income housing and municipal infrastructure and several large economic infrastructure projects over the decade ahead,” Manuel said.