On 24 May, Lorraine Gerrans of the City of Cape Town addressed outraged members of the built environment at a gathering called by Master Builders Association Western Cape (MBAWC) to set the record straight regarding a recent newspaper article. The article which stated that builders were ‘told to down tools for the World Cup' sent shockwaves through Cape Town's building industry.

All World Cup host cities have signed an agreement with FIFA wherein they accepted responsibility for fulfilling a number of obligations, among them city beautification. To further this goal, the City of Cape Town is upholding the 2010 bylaw which states that the City of Cape Town can ‘appeal (to developers/contractors) that major construction sites be beautified' and/or ‘request the suspension of building works in controlled access sites'. Gerrans says that with the bylaw, we are not telling builders to down tools - we can merely appeal or request that they limit construction in certain areas.
"The City has been in direct communication with developers and contractors involved in areas demarcated by FIFA as ‘Main Access Routes', to find an amicable solution for both our beautification aims and the construction requirements. It will also only be in these areas that construction work will be affected," says Gerans.

Gerrans also explained that with eight matches being played in Cape Town there will be a number of road closures which could affect construction and deliveries. "Several roads will be closed for four hours before each match. However; as the majority of matches will be played at night this will simply require greater scheduling of activities by construction companies and their contractors".