VZCZCXRO5708
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHDU #0065/01 3121306
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071306Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL DURBAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1344
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0604
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 0289
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 0249
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0717

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DURBAN 000065 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ELTN EAIR SCUL ASEC PINR SF
SUBJECT: DURBAN CONFIDENT ABOUT ABILITY TO HOST WORLD CUP 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  City Manager Dr. Michael Sutcliffe said that 
national, provincial and local governments have worked together 
to develop plans to improve infrastructure to host the 2010 FIFA 
World Cup.  The new stadium and airport being developed to host 
the games are on track for completion before the games begin in 
June 2010.  The greatest challenge facing World Cup preparation 
efforts is the ability to improve public transportation and 
security capacity.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Consulate General Durban staff met on October 28 with 
eThekwini Municipality (Durban) City Manager Michael Sutcliffe 
to discuss municipal government preparations to host the 2010 
FIFA World Cup.  Durban is the biggest municipality in the 
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province and one of the host cities for the 
World Cup.  In his capacity as City Manager, Sutcliffe 
represents Durban at the World Cup Local Organizing Committee 
(LOC) meetings and is involved with all of the major 
infrastructure projects in the municipality that will support 
2010 preparations. 
 
--------------------------------- 
South Africa Expects to 
be Prepared for 2010 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sutcliffe expressed confidence in South Africa's 
ability to host the games and remarked that the 2010 World Cup 
would be a "different experience" from the precisely-executed 
2006 World Cup held in Germany.  He explained that significant 
national and provincial foresight went into plans to improve 
infrastructure when South Africa decided to bid for the 2010 
World Cup.  He cited public transportation and security capacity 
as the area of greatest concern for World Cup preparation 
efforts.  According to Sutcliffe, South Africa has successfully 
hosted large international sporting events in the past (e.g., 
1996 African Nations Cup and the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup) and 
has the emergency response and coordination systems in place in 
the chosen host cities to ensure the success of the games. 
Sutcliffe is pleased with the progress on the development of the 
new stadium in Durban and the capacity of the local tourism and 
hospitality industries to accommodate the large number of fans 
expected to visit Durban. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
KZN Transport Infrastructure 
Being Upgraded for 2010 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Sutcliffe conceded that initiatives to develop the 
transport infrastructure required for the World Cup have been 
resource intensive.  He expected the municipality to be able to 
provide a reasonable level of public transport service during 
the games, but admitted that public transport capacity would not 
reach the level originally desired by the province or 
municipality due to financial constraints.  Work at the new 
Durban King Shaka International Airport at La Mercy is currently 
on a 24-hour cycle to complete construction before the games 
begin.  Sutcliffe would like to see the province make efforts to 
attract a few large international carriers such as Emirates, Air 
India, and Air China to provide direct service to the new 
airport.  He thought it would be more strategic to target a few 
large carriers with high passenger volume to increase the 
long-term economic viability of the new airport. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In 2007, the municipality contemplated developing a 
tram-based public transport system to improve public transport 
capacity for the World Cup and beyond.  Municipal officials 
consulted with Durban's sister-city Nantes, France, which 
operates a tram-based public transport system that they hoped to 
use as a model.  The municipality decided to shelf the project 
due to a lack of financial support from the national government 
and projections that Durban would not have the commuter volume 
to support a tram-based system after the World Cup.  The 
municipality decided to rely on a bus-based public transport 
system instead to meet short-term World Cup transport needs. 
Park and ride platforms will also be established at key train 
stations that will link fans to World Cup events. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
2010 Providing Impetus to Test Various 
Types of Public Transport Systems 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Sutcliffe said the municipality would revisit the 
tram-based public transport project if Durban won the 2020 
Olympics bid.  (Note: Durban is bidding to host the 2020 Summer 
Olympics and International Olympic Committee members have 
suggested that the organization should award the games to an 
African nation).  Sutcliffe also noted that a concerted effort 
would have to be made to change the mind-set of the population 
 
DURBAN 00000065  002 OF 002 
 
 
to increase utilization of public transport before such a 
project could be considered feasible. 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to Sutcliffe, urban density in KZN is not 
high enough to support the type of mass transit systems that are 
in place in Europe.  He predicted that it would take another 
20-30 years to achieve the urban population densities required 
in KZN to support these types of initiatives.  He even expressed 
skepticism regarding the economic viability of the mass 
transport systems (e.g., Gautrain rapid rail link and 
Johannesburg bus-rapid transport) being implemented in the 
Gauteng province for the World Cup.  He believes that the 
Gautrain model was unrealistic and did not meet public, mass 
transit needs. Sutcliffe also highlighted the challenge 
government faced in dealing with the entrenched interests of the 
taxi industry, which operates in a "mafia-like" manner to thwart 
any initiatives that would develop or promote alternative forms 
of mass public transport. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Despite these challenges, Sutcliffe thought that the 
World Cup-led transport capacity building initiatives would 
provide an opportunity for the host provinces and municipalities 
to experiment with various mass transit systems that would 
eventually benefit all South Africans.  For instance, Durban 
hopes to incorporate lessons learned from the various public 
transport projects being implemented in Gauteng for the World 
Cup.  Sutcliffe emphasized that there has never been such a 
large injection of resources into the public transport system in 
South Africa before.  He hoped that among the various pilot 
public transport projects being initiated for the World Cup a 
few models would emerge that could be emulated to develop 
larger-scale public transport systems. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Capacity Building will be Key to 
Improving Security Preparations 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Sutcliffe also outlined the municipality's plans to 
increase the patrolling capacity of the Metro Police service and 
criticized the national government for putting too much emphasis 
on technical solutions to address World Cup-related security 
concerns.  He noted that new technical solutions would need to 
be combined with experienced policing and patrolling during the 
games to be effective.  The municipality plans on recruiting and 
training an additional 600 Metro Police for 2010.  The 
municipality has started training the new recruits and 200 have 
completed the training to-date.  Sutcliffe noted that providing 
new recruits with adequate training and experience before 2010 
would represent a significant challenge for the municipality, 
"because experienced policing can not be replaced with 
technology." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment.  Sutcliffe was optimistic about the ability 
of South Africa and Durban to host the 2010 World Cup, but was 
candid in his assessments of the constraints faced by 
initiatives to improve public transportation and security 
capacity.  He raised valid points about the difficulty of 
ramping up transport and security infrastructure in such a short 
period of time.  Most officials are not as publicly skeptical 
about the long-term economic viability of the projects being 
initiated for the World Cup.  End Comment. 
 
------------- 
Bio Notes 
------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Dr. Sutcliffe is an ANC loyalist, brought into the 
party by current KZN Premier Sibusiso "Sbu" Ndebele.  He is a 
prominent figure in KZN province and in the municipality of 
eThekwini (Durban).  Sutcliffe is driven largely by a pro-poor 
liberal political ideology, which has its roots in the 
anti-apartheid struggle, and appears to relish opportunities to 
shake up the "previously- (and in his view, still-) advantaged" 
elites of Durban.  He is very close to the eThekwini ANC 
regional leadership, especially the powerful Chairman John 
Mchunu.  These relationships have caused a rift between him and 
Durban's mayor, Obed Mlaba, who is seen largely as a ceremonial 
mayor.  Sutcliffe by contrast seems to enjoy greater political 
influence and decision-making powers.   Sutcliffe is also very 
supportive of ANC President Jacob Zuma.  He has a rocky 
relationship with opposition parties in the City Council and has 
often been at logger-heads with them over a number of 
controversial issues, such as the street renaming process. 
Sutcliffe's name is invoked with anger in many letters to the 
editor in local papers; he has developed a thick skin, and told 
us he views the media as part of the "opposition."  His 
detractors and critics readily admit that he is an extremely 
effective city manager, and he is credited for making eThekwini 
one of the best-run municipalities in the country. 
DERDERIAN