World Cup building ban in Cape Town will be localised

Building construction will not grind to a halt in Cape Town during the World Cup, a city official has said. Lorraine Gerrans, manager of the Green Goal programme, said the agreement Cape Town had signed with Fifa stated that construction had to be suspended for the tournament.

However, the soccer body had since published a "guideline" saying the restriction would apply only to the stadium precinct, major transport hubs, entertainment areas and so-called protocol routes - routes used by teams and Fifa officials, such as from the airport to Green Point Stadium, and the stadium to team hotels.

Gerrans said the city's 2010 by-law authorised the city manager to ask developers to stop construction during the whole tournament or part of it. But, it appeared unlikely that this would have to be done.

Building projects in the vicinity of the stadium should be completed before kickoff.

The city was checking its records of thousands of properties for building plans along protocol routes. The only major project it was aware of was the planned Portside Tower on the corner of Hans Strijdom and Buitengracht streets.

Although the city was still talking to the Portside architects, building was unlikely to start before the tournament.

However, in terms of Fifa requirements, the site would have to be screened off.

"At this stage, there are no other red flags," said Gerrans. Developers away from the key areas would not be affected. "We will make contact with them if the city manager needs to engage with them on their activities," she said.
The aim of the restriction was to avoid noise or dust nuisances, or interference with pedestrians and traffic.

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