President Jacob Zuma says South Africa is well on track to meet its development targets for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. He was speaking in his inaugural State of the Nation Address in Parliament, earlier today.

The President says the newly-formed Infrastructure Development Cluster of government will ensure that the planned R787 billion infrastructure expenditure -- as provided for in the budget earlier this year -- is properly planned for and executed.

“This funding includes allocations for the School Building Programme, public transport including the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, housing, water and sanitation,” says Zuma.

Zuma noted that the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup is one of the biggest infrastructure investment projects the country is involved in. “We have, as a government and the nation at large, pledged that the World Cup will leave a proud legacy from which our children and our communities will benefit for many years to come.”

Zuma also says it’s all systems go for the Confederations Cup, which kicks off on June 14. He adds that his hopes are pinned on the country staging a successful tournament.

Ticket sales for the 2009 Confederations Cup are doing well, as are tickets for the 2010 tournament. Of the four host cities, Johannesburg is in the lead with the ticket sales at last count.

Due to a high demand for certain team-specific ticket series, tickets are no longer available for England, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Republic of Ireland and Netherlands. FIFA said there had also been an incredible demand for individual match tickets, adding that it was no longer possible, within the current sales phase, to purchase match tickets for games taking place in Cape Town, Nelspruit or Pretoria for 2010.

FIFA has warned that any confirmed tickets not paid for by applicants would be made available to the public again.