Work on Cape Town's 68 000-seater Green Point Stadium is on track for handover by the contractors, a consortium of Murray and Roberts and WBHO, to the City of Cape Town on December 14.

Major concrete work has been completed, with only finishes remaining, including seating, lighting, cabling, VIP suites, external cladding, media and IT facilities.

Construction of the glass roof is progressing well and is scheduled for completion in September.

Work is currently underway on constructing the exterior façade of the stadium that will give it a lantern-like appearance with a soft glow at night. This phase is due for completion by October 2009.

In all, over 2,500 workers – more than 90% of them South Africans - have been employed on the project which will cost about R4,5 billion.

In the six months between completion of the stadium and the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, stadium operators Stade de France and SAIL will host three events – one small event with 20,000 spectators, one medium-sized event with 40,000 spectators and one mega-event with 60,000 spectators.

These events will be trial runs to test the efficiency of the stadium, the readiness of police and emergency services and the dispersal rate of the spectators.