Johannesburg, Nov 27 (IANS) The 2010 FIFA World Cup is expected to inject 55 billion rands ($7.46 billion) into the South African economy, according to the Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi.
Auditing firm Grant Thorn conducted the economic impact assessment for South Africa hosting the World Cup and found that not only would the event inject this much money into the local economy, but also create an estimated 415,000 new jobs, a Bua News report quoted the minister as saying.

“Moreover, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be boosted by 33 billion rands in direct spending on stadiums and infrastructure, while soccer fanatics will spend some 8 billion rands and tickets sales will generate 6 billion rands,” she said.

The firm also found that the government would rake in about 19 billion rands ($2.51 billion) in tax revenue, the report said Thursday.

“Given the scenario … it is an event of significant and far-reaching economic impact,” said Mabudafhasi.

She was speaking at the launch of the Green Goal 2010 programme, which includes the demonstration and contribution to the efforts towards raising awareness, minimising waste, diversifying and using energy efficiently, utilising water sparingly, minimising and compensating carbon footprint was under way.

The programme will be implemented in all the ten host cities.