Africa communicators to talk 2010

Johannesburg - The Local Organising Committee (LOC) has started the process of recruiting some 5000 volunteers for the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup™ to be staged in South Africa in June next year.

The 2010 LOC on Tuesday launched its campaign to employ 5000 volunteers for the Confederations Cup and 15 000 for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™.

They would come from all sectors of South Africa and be paid a nominal fee. Foreign volunteers will also be accommodated.

The Volunteer Programme Manager of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa, Onke Mjo, tells FIFA.com how the process will work and its importance to the organisation:

The FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 (FCC) is just a year away now. How are the preparations going to prepare for the recruitment of the volunteers required for this tournament?

In terms of the analysis of the numbers we require for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, we are 99 percent there. It is important to finalise the numbers because they influence many aspects. We expect to recruit 5 000 volunteers for the Confederations Cup and because we are dealing with large numbers, there are implications in terms of financial resources and other support resources. We have virtually completed the process of looking at the numbers in terms of the clothing we require, the size of the volunteer operations centres we will use and things such as finalising the daily stipend for the volunteers. By the end of the application process we will be able to ascertain the gender and size spread, so that by September we can start with the manufacturing process with our clothing supplier Adidas.

What are the Organising Committee's expectations from volunteers?
The volunteers are truly going to be the face of the tournament and will be the lifeblood of the event. The Organising Committee gives a commitment of professionalism and respect to the process and to all the volunteers, as well as a clear process that outlines the task at hand. In return we would expect complete commitment from the volunteers selected and their services and time to ensure the tournament is a success the country and tournament can be proud of.

Were other volunteer programmes at major events around the world observed as part of the learnings for the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ volunteer programme?
The wealth of experience of the current 2010 Volunteer Programme team comes from having worked on several national, continental and international events. In addition we have had a debrief with the organisers of the programme for the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup and recently at the EURO 2008 Volunteer Programme in three cities in Switzerland to observe certain areas of operation, to benchmark and to validate our process going forward. Having met the organisers of the EURO 2008 volunteer programme, and looking at their implementation strategies, we believe we are on par with our colleagues worldwide.

You used about 500 volunteers at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw in Durban in November. What lessons were learnt from that process?
The Preliminary Draw was a really good starting point for us in terms of practising certain systems, which proved to be quite a fruitful exercise. We were able to test the required information technology systems and stakeholder relationships. We were also able to test the numbers of volunteers and how they could be utilised in a tournament situation. The most important lesson we learnt, however, was meticulously following all the steps of the recruitment process. In our recruitment of candidates, interviewing them is one of the most important steps, as we get to interact with the volunteers and get to understand them and whether they would be suitable for the positions we need them to fill. We also learnt that the timing of training is very important and that training should be completed at least a month before the event. We are planning for the FIFA World Cup concurrently.

How and where is the recruitment of the volunteers for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 taking place?
The recruitment process of volunteers for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 starts on July 1 2008. This recruitment will be online, using the fifa.com platform. The value of the online registration process, we believe, will take the volunteer management processes in South Africa to a higher standard. We believe this will leave a legacy in terms of gathering volunteers and databases in the future for the football fraternity and sport in general. The recruitment will be focused in the five Confederations Cup venues, however, South Africans can apply nationwide provided they can find their own accommodation and transport to the city they intend to volunteer in.

Not all South Africans have internet access. Is there a plan to accommodate them in the registration process?
We have created, with the Host Cities, up to 300 access points nationwide. South African citizens who do not have access to computers will be able access these computers in all these city amenities. Every FCC and FWC Host City has created access points with three ports in each venue. In Johannesburg, for instance, we have 45 access points and in Cape Town, which is not an FCC venue, we have created twelve access points to ensure that applicants in the Western Cape can also have access.

Is the Volunteer Programme going to offer any formal training to successful applicants?
All the successful applicants, after they have been interviewed and screened by December 2008, will be given comprehensive training starting in February 2009 and ending in April 2009. The training is supported by the Tourism, Hospitality and Sports Sector Education and Training Authority (THETA) who will offer internationally accredited customer service training. We also have support from the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) and Sports and Recreation South Africa to ensure that the training is appropriately focused and that the facilitators themselves are adequately qualified.

Will volunteers be offered any remuneration for their services?
They will not be offered any financial remuneration for events in 2009, which include the Confederations Cup. We will, however, offer volunteers eighty South African rand per day for expenses such as travelling etc, based on the days the volunteers will be working.

Anyone wishing to become a volunteer could apply on www.fifa.com/southafrica2009. Applications would close on August 31.