Pretoria- The Closing Ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is set to be a colourful, celebratory tribute to the tournament, the fans and their experiences in the host country.

The 30-minute ceremony will take place at 18:30 tonight, at Soccer City Stadium - ahead of the showpiece final between Spain and the Netherlands- and will feature some spectacular performances and unique special effects.

It will be broadcast live in 215 countries to an audience in excess of 500-million viewers and will feature 780 cast members and some of South Africa and Africa's top musicians and dancers.

Columbian pop star Shakira will feature at her second successive FIFA World Cup closing ceremony, performing the hit song "Waka Waka" with South Africa's Freshlyground.

The catchy song has topped the global music charts in 15 countries and was the most watched video on the internet in the month of June, with over 83 million hits on You Tube to date.

Other artists at the ceremony include multiple Grammy Award winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Jozi, Stoan Seate, Slikour, Zuluboy, Abigail Kubeka, Theo Kgosinkwe, Afrikaans artists Nianell and flutist Wouter, Nigeria's 2Face, Ghana's Samini and popular local traditional group Ihashi Elimhlophe.

The closing ceremony starts at 18:30 and spectators have been urged to be seated by 18:00 in order to be part of the historic closing ceremony of Africa's first FIFA World Cup.

The commercial display areas at Soccer City will be fully operational from 14:00 today and will offer a variety of fun-filled activities for early fans, with a number of transport options available from the City of Johannesburg.

The Soccer City stadium gates will open at 14:30, six hours before kick-off of the final at 20:30.

Source: BuaNews 

Pretoria - Stricter traffic measures will be enforced ahead of the final of the World Cup tonight, with the closure of a number of roads and restricting entry to others.

New measures that will be implemented to help ease congestion and ensure those travelling to Soccer City get there on time includes the closure of certain roads around the stadium, parts of the N1 highway, Sandton and Pretoria.

Roads in Sandton will be closed from 13:00 to 17:30. Delegates from FIFA, the Organising Committee, SAFA and other dignitaries are expected to arrive at FIFA's headquarters in Sandton from 13:00 to 15:00. No parking will be allowed on the streets around FIFA's headquarters.

Johannesburg Metro Police will be onsite to remove illegally parked cars.

There will be soft closures (meaning access to the roads will be restricted and they will be re-opened once the convoys have passed) on the N1 from 14:30 to 16:30.

The N1 will be open as soon as the operation has ceased. All soft road closures will be done at the N1 on ramps. Cars will be directed to various diversion routes.

Tshwane Metro Police is expected to close all five intersections between the Irene Lodge and the N1.

There will be a number of traffic control points from Sandton to the N1 South.

In Sandton there will be soft road closures on parts of Fifth Street, Alice Lane, West Street, Maude Street, Gwen Lane and Rivonia Road.

Residents and those who need to enter these areas for business purposes will be allowed in. Those hoping to get some shopping done at Sandton City will also be allowed through.

Fans attending the game have been urged to make use of public transport and to get to the park-and-walk and park-and-ride facilities early.

Source: BuaNews