Port Elizabeth (more officially identified as the Nelson Mandela Bay metropole) is situated at the southern end of  the Eastern Cape province approximately 1,100km from Johannesburg and about 650km from Cape Town. Its distance from South Africa's major cities and international points of entry, coupled with a limited industrial and business sector, has left PE (as it is commonly called) somewhat deprived in terms of foreign tourist trade. It is however likely to attract a fair share of the World Cup visitor market, particularly as perennial favorites England (23 June, versus Slovenia) and Germany (18 June, versus Serbia) will play first-round matches in the City.

With Port Elizabeth enjoying the unofficial title of being South Africa's “Friendly City”, World Cup visitors are likely to be well received by the locals. They should also not be disappointed with the  new 48,000 seater Nelson Mandela Stadium which, although smaller than the 2010 stadiums in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, holds its own in terms of architectural appeal and design efficiency. The stadium is also conveniently located within a 8-10km radius of most of the city's popular hotels and is about a 10 minute drive from the airport.

Unfortunately, the convenient location, friendly welcome, visually appealing stadium and the promise of entertaining football may be where the accolades end for PE. This assessment is unlikely to be supported by locals, who are as passionate about the forthcoming event as any other city in the country.  The reality however is that the Eastern Cape province has an unfortunate history of under-performing and, at times, of embarrassing failures when it comes to big events. Even if one overlooks the fact that the only serious glitch during the 1995 Rugby World Cup was when the PE stadium was plunged into darkness during a crucial match, it is hard to look past the fact that PE lost the right to host 2009 Confederations Cup matches because its new stadium was too far behind schedule. As unpopular as it may be to say it, the truth is that the Eastern Cape is regarded even within South Africa as something of a 'frontier' environment. The World Cup may be PE's big opportunity to finally shed that tag, but informed opinion from within the city has it that unless all stakeholders pull together and put intensive effort in between now and June, one should anticipate that there will be problems with organisation, logistics and infrastructure. For example, a well-placed source, who does not wish to be named, indicated that while the stadium will be ready there is mounting concern that key elements of the precinct area are behind schedule. And, the source commented, there appears to be a lack of a clear and effective operational plan to deal with such contingencies.

Fortunately, event security risks in PE are generally lower than those in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. As in most South African cities, the crime threat cannot be discounted. It can however be managed by adhering to the same generic principles that have been considered in other articles posted on this site: avoid walking around at night on your own or in small groups of 2-4; do not venture into the so-called township areas unless you have an experienced guide; and above all avoid looking the obvious tourist complete with expensive camera equipment and other valuables. In PE, note that the CBD area of town – which begins about three blocks in from the beachfront, has high rates of petty theft and mugging, particularly at night. The beachfront during the day is generally safer, but one should avoid secluded parts of the beach at night, as appealing as the image of a moonlight stroll along the sand may be.

Crowd control could prove to be a challenge for the local security services, particularly if the sort of clashes between drunken fans that has been a part of previous World Cup and European Cup events occurs. Potential flashpoints are the England-Slovenia and Germany-Serbia matches.

In summary, we are hopeful that PE will prove us wrong and put on a world-class show free of any serious incidents or problems. It would however be naïve – and negligent – to ignore the fact that there could be a number of obstacles that have to be catered for by fans arriving in PE.