Just 12 years after Nelson Mandela was elected president and a new South Africa was born, it is being greeted as a milestone in this vibrant young country's progress and an acknowledgment of the great strides being made

Across the nation, it has been universally welcomed as much more than the world's biggest sporting event after the Olympic Games. Everyone appreciates that it is certain to usher in a new prosperity and give South African business and commerce a huge boost.

According to the business plan, the 2010 marketing opportunities are remarkable, with an estimated 500,000 visitors travelling to South Africa from around the globe and a total worldwide TV audience of up to 28 billion.

While the economy will receive a massive direct boost from hosting the World Cup, economists predict that the likely spin-offs of an improved image abroad will have an even greater impact.

This has already been recognised by the government, who are allocating almost £1bn of the £5.72bn increase in spending over the next three years to World Cup major capital projects.

Part of the pay-back is that the World Cup will pump £1.5bn into the SA economy, generating almost £1bn in direct spending and creating almost 160,000 new jobs.

Analysts believe the biggest long-term benefits will stem from intangibles like an enhanced international profile and improved sense of pride and inter-racial unity among South Africans.

Despite the progress made in the 12 years since the country held its first democratic elections, South Africa's economy continues to struggle against negative perceptions with foreign direct investment amounting to a trickle compared to other emerging market countries.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has pledged that most of his government's investment will be spent on building new football stadiums and refurbishing existing ones.

About 8.4bn rand ($1.1bn) will be spent on building five new football grounds and upgrading existing facilities, while 6.4bn rand ($800m) will be invested in public transport and supporting the infrastructure.

One of South Africa's biggest problems is security - and money has been set aside to boost the war on crime. About 8,000 extra police officers are being recruited, along with 2,000 security guards to patrol the tournament.

Tourist bosses are being urged to work out strategies to turn one-time World Cup visitors into repeat customers, with Tourism KwaZulu-Natal chief executive Miller Matola pointing out: "The affirmation that South Africa is fit to host a World Cup marks an important shift in perception and is a vital confidence booster for our country. In the world's eyes we have moved from being an apartheid-ravaged nation to a peaceful, democratic land."

Nowhere is the anticipation and optimism generated by the World Cup more keenly felt than in Cape Town. New housing is springing up all over the city, along with retail developments such as the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a huge shopping mall on the harbour.

Cape Town has witnessed an incredible property boom, with prices rising around 40 percent in the last two years. Despite this trend, prices are still cheaper than anywhere in Europe. For around £100,000 you can buy a flat for holidays or as an investment and for £150,000- £200,000 you can land a three-bedroom house with garden and swimming pool. It isn't just Cape Town that has experienced the property boom, though. Real estate prices across South Africa have more than doubled in the last five years, making the country one of the world's fastest growing property markets.

For investors with an eye to the future, the World Cup factor will just make things even sunnier. "Evidence shows that a property boom happens one year before the World Cup until a couple of years after, so it's a great time to get in," says Dominic Johnson-Allen of Thabalanga Property, which specialises in helping Brits find homes in South Africa.

By far the biggest reason for investing in Cape Town is the lifestyle. Many investors use their properties as holiday homes to escape the British winter. Families are attracted by low property prices, quick commutes, good schools and the great outdoors. Cape Town's English and Dutch colonial roots are reflected in the many beautiful old buildings. The city centre is home to giant art deco blocks, while the most stunning neighbourhood is Bo-Kaap, the Malay quarter, filled with 19th century Dutch and Georgian terraces painted in a vivid rainbow of colours.

Century City is a new development to the north-west of Cape Town, just a ten-minute drive from the city centre. Main attraction is the convenient city lifestyle, with apartments both off-plan and resale from just £70,000. In development areas such as Claremont, Rondebosch and Greenpoint, prices range from £50,000 to £300,000, with most central two-bedroom apartments around £100,000.

Away from Cape Town, some of the newer developments along the Indian Ocean's Dolphin Coast in KwaZulu-Natal, a 15-hour drive from the Cape, offer incredible value.

KwaZulu-Natal is up to 40 percent cheaper and you can buy a two-bedroom apartment on the beach for about £88,000 which in Cape Town would cost £175,000. A stylish three-bedroom old colonial townhouse in a good area of Durban, the region's capital, would be around £220,000.

Britain's Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes fell in love with the town of Potchefstroom, 90 minutes from Johannesburg, four years ago and bought a large open plan bungalow with a pool and garden.

Today, if you wanted to be a near-neighbour of hers, a two-bedroom apartment in Potchefstroom would cost you just £22,845.

Kelly also owns a three-bedroom flat in Stellenbosch, close to Cape Town, which cost her £30,000 in 2002 and now has a market value of £120,000.

One thing's for sure - by the time the World Cup arrives in South Africa, it will be worth a lot more.

Where the World Cup stars will play
- Ten stadiums, including five new venues, throughout South Africa will stage the World Cup in 2010

- In Limpopo, the Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane will host matches. Five new stadiums will either be built or rebuilt. New stadiums will be built at Mbombela in Mpumalanga, and in the Nelson Mandela Metro (encompassing Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape.

Kings Park stadium in Durban will be rebuilt as a multi-sports facility

- In the Western Cape, Cape Town's Green Point stadium will also be rebuilt, becoming a multi-purpose sports facility complete with a dome that can be opened and closed to cope with the region's unpredictable weather

- Three existing stadiums in South Africa's major metropolis, Gauteng, will be upgraded - Soccer City (FNB stadium), Ellis Park in Johannesburg, and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The Royal Bafokeng stadium in North West will also be upgraded, as will Vodacom Park in Mangaung (Bloemfontein) in the Free State

Under the limelight
- The South African Trade & Investment Exhibition (SATIE) will showcase South African business to an international audience in London in June next year

- The two-day event will feature South African, British and European trade and industry speakers, who will give delegates information and details of trading conditions in Africa

- The UK-based TopCo Media initiative and the South African Department of Trade and Industry are both partners in the venture, along with the South African Chamber of Commerce, the Association of the Southern African Development Community and the International Marketing Council of South Africa