Monday 26 January, 2009 means that there are 500 days to go until the 2010 Fifa World Cup kicks off and preparations in Durban continue in earnest.  

The construction of Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban is well on track and KwaZulu-Natal is ready to host the World Cup next year, Premier Sbu Ndebele said on Friday.

"We are very excited about the spectacular progress being made on the new 70 000 seater Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. On behalf of the provincial government, we want to commend the construction workers at the stadium for this progress," he said in a statement.

"We have no doubt that the new, more than R2-billion stadium, which will host 2010 World Cup group matches and one of the semi-finals, ranks among the best sports facilities in the world.

The head of the Ethekwini strategic projects unit, Julie-May Ellingson, said the area around the stadium was being transformed. Designated public lanes had been constructed to improve public transport flow, the new inner city bus system was in its trial phase and the Warwick junction revamp was well under way.

Ellingson also said that enormous financial and economic gains were already being felt in tourism, marketing, job creation and other sectors. There is much potential for these gains to continue in KwaZulu-Natal after 2010.