Pretoria - The Department of Health is satisfied that all the necessary preparations in terms of health and emergency medical services have been put in place ahead of Sunday's opening FIFA Confederations Cup match.
""It's all systems go. We are happy with the health preparedness plan in as far as the FIFA Confederations Cup is concerned. Our emergency medical services are ready. Let the games begin," Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Molefi Sefularo, said on Thursday.
The FIFA Confederations Cup will take place from 14 to 28 June 2009 in four host cities, namely Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Rustenburg.
The opening match between Bafana Bafana and Iraq will take place at the Coca Cola Park in Johannesburg.
Dr Sefularo said the department, together with health authorities in host provinces and the Local Organising Committee (LOC), has over the past months been involved in various projects aimed at ensuring that the country is ready from a health point of view.
He said health was a very important element for such large events to be a success and that the department had made guarantees to FIFA.
The department's preparedness plan is based on certain key areas, including communicable and non-communicable diseases, food control, emergency medical services and port health.
Dr Sefularo appealed to spectators to make their way to the stadiums on time to avoid incidents of stampedes.
"When fans come to the venues very late, suddenly there is a lot of pushing that leads to injuries. We want to appeal to fans to make their way to the stadiums quite early so that the chances of any unfortunate incidents are minimised."
He further said that the department's experience in hosting the upcoming event will go a long way in preparing for the big one next year, the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
