It's finally finished - Soccer City has celebrated its roof-wetting with a huge braai to thank everyone for their hard work.

WITH 230 days to go to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, Soccer City has celebrated yet another milestone with a roof-wetting, marking the start of the final completion inspections of the giant stadium.

Soccer City celebrates another milestone with a roof wetting

Smoke billowed from a huge braai where the workers, who were also basking in the glory of reaching 1,7 million disabling injury-free hours since they started working on the stadium in 2007, roasted packs of meat and coils of boerewors.

Before the festivities began, the Soccer City project manager, Mike Moody, took invited guests and workers back to the days when construction began. He said nine million bricks, 10 000 tonnes of reinforced steel, 13 000 tonnes of structural steel and 90 000 cubic metres of concrete had been used in the building of the stadium.

It took 9 980 000 man hours to complete, he added.

The roof, a breathtaking affair that took hours of hard work to design and complete, has a double layer of fabric and required 32 400 fibre cement panels to complete the calabash-inspired design of the façade.

Neil Cloete, the managing director of Grinaker/LTA, the main contractors, commended the workers, the architectural team and the building contractors for completing the stadium in record time compared to construction of some of the world's biggest stadiums.

"It took the renovation of Wembley Stadium in the UK 54 months to complete, a year later than the original deadline," he said.

Soccer City construction is in the final stages

"The stadium is going to be the home of major sporting events long after we are gone," said Cloete.

Construction work at Soccer City brought job opportunities to thousands of Joburg residents, particularly those staying in Soweto, said the mayoral committee member for community development, Bafana Sithole.

"A skills transfer programme has been done by contractors and many people have benefited from this programme. Also, as the City, we are committed to delivering the best World Cup ever."

Speaking on behalf of the City manager, Mavela Dlamini, the executive director in the City's 2010 Office, Sibongile Mazibuko, said Johannesburg appreciated the efforts of the workers.

"I have seen men and women scaling the high roof of the stadium and doing all kinds of risky work and this shows that our perseverance will carry on. It is in this calabash that the opening and closing games will happen and to you Mike [Moody] and your team we are surely appreciative of the effort," she said.

Amos Maluleke, a general hand from Soweto, said he was proud to be part of the team building the stadium. "I am pleased to be involved in building one of the biggest stadiums in the world. I will certainly tell my grandchildren about this," he said, holding up a piece of steaming boerewors.

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