Johannesburg - The nine South African cities hosting 2010 World Cup matches will bear the brunt of a 3.2-billion-rand (315 million dollars) cost overrun in the construction and upgrading of stadiums for the event, Business Day newspaper reported Tuesday.

The local organizers of the World Cup have been warning since July that the stadiums are likely to overshoot the original budget by more than 3 billion rand.

Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile confirmed the amount of the overrun in a written reply to a question in parliament from the opposition Democratic Alliance.

South Africa is building five and upgrading five stadiums for the World Cup. The original budget was 9.8 billion rand but rising costs of inputs and poor planning means all
10 stadiums are running over budget.

Cape Town's new 68,000-seat Green Point stadium that will host a semi-final match among others, is both the most expensive and the most over budget. The stadium is expected to come in at around 3.3 billion rand, nearly 1 billion rand more than initially budgeted.

Apart from poor planning, planning errors and a lack of foresight about rising costs, Stofile also blamed changes to FIFA's and the local organizing committee's requirements for the bloated budget.

In his mid-term budget policy statement, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced 1.4 billion rands extra towards the stadium. The host cities are expected pick up the remaining 1.8-billion-rand tab, despite increasing difficulties in securing credit from local and international markets.

Stofile also expressed concern at the "high risk of labour unrest, like in all other 2010 stadia projects."

Rising inflation, food and fuel prices were the driving forces behind several strikes at World Cup stadiums last year. While the situation has eased, more strikes are deemed likely between now and the October 2009 FIFA inspection date for the stadiums.

Such strikes would put further pressure on some cities already operating to tight schedules.

Stofile warned it was "highly unlikely" that the new stadium being built in the southern city of Port Elizabeth would be completed by its March 31, 2009 deadline.

The Port Elizabeth stadium was already withdrawn from the list of 2009 Confederations Cup venues over fears that it would not be ready on time. (dpa)