Johannesburg - Local Organising Committee Chief Executive Danny Jordaan has urged people to sign up as volunteers for the upcoming World Cup, saying its volunteers who will contribute to a successful 2010 spectacle.
The application process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup volunteer programme opened on Monday. A total of 15 000 volunteers are required and will be selected from South Africa, the continent and the rest of the world to assist in ensuring the event is run smoothly.
Speaking to BuaNews, Dr Jordaan said South Africa would rely heavily on the services of volunteers to make the World Cup a success.
"During the FIFA Confederations Cup, volunteers did an outstanding job, and we expect them to improve on their strengths to make sure that we host the best world cup ever," he said.
"People have criticized South Africa, that we don't have a culture of volunteerism, but after the FIFA Confederations Cup, we identified a great sense of partnership and we expect the same next year," said Dr Jordaan.
2010 Volunteer Programme Manager, Onke Mjo, also urged people to take advantage of the opportunity.
"The applications are open and people must visit FIFA online to apply. We are expecting more than 100 000 applications. Our vetting procedures will be very strict as we require only 15 000 volunteers for the event," she said.
Ms Mjo explained that the LOC required that 10 percent of the volunteers be international, another 10 percent must be from Africa and the rest be South Africans.
The volunteers are required in 16 functional areas, including accreditation, marketing, media, protocol services, transportation, administration, hospitality and spectator services.
The final 15 000 volunteers will further assist in welcome and information services, information technology, environmental services, language support, rights protection programme, logistic services and ushering services.
Ms Mjo explained that applications were open to anyone who will be 18-years-old or older in March 2010 and has a good command of the English language.
Applications close on 31 August 2009, and the LOC volunteer department will conduct interviews with the pre-selected applicants in January and February 2010. Telephonic interviews will be conducted for foreign pre-selected volunteers.
The application forms are available on FIFA.com at www.FIFA.com/volunteers2010. For those without internet access there will be a number of venues across the nine host cities where members of the public will assisted to apply.
To find more information on the venues people can call volunteer hotline on 0800 52 52 52 (toll free in South Africa) or email volunteerprogramme@2010oc.com.
