Although blind, nothing can stop 33 year-old Thapelo Seabelo, especially since he learnt that he was selected as one of the 850 volunteers that will serve in Rustenburg during the FIFA Confederations Cup.

"I was so excited when I heard about the volunteer applications, I knew I wanted to be part of the tournament," said the Rustenburg resident who studied radio broadcasting last year.

Seabelo, who will be working as a media volunteer, was one of the 850 volunteers who took part in their first session of training today for the Rustenburg area. The training, which will continue through the weekend, is meant to prepare the volunteers for their duties during the tournament.

As a media volunteer Seabelo will be working in the Royal Bafokeng stadium media centre where he will be assisting the media in covering the matches at the stadium and broadcasting them to the world. A perfect fit for a man with broadcast training under his belt.

With a month to go until the FIFA Confederations Cup, Seabelo is confident that he and his fellow volunteers will make the city of Rustenburg, with its majestic 42,000-seater Royal Bafokeng stadium, proud. For Seabelo his disability is not an issue, for him it is all about teamwork.

"Working together as a team we can lift the South African flag high into the air for the world to see. Rustenburg is ready for June".

With a sense of celebration and anticipation reverberating throughout the Rustenburg Civic Centre, the volunteers were motivated to get the job done.

"I am so excited that South Africa has this chance to shine and I cannot wait to represent my country," said Juliet Mokgatlhe, a commissioner from the Department of Local Government, and a volunteer for the FIFA Confederations Cup.

"It is a great way to show my support for the country I love and it is about building South Africa to leave a legacy for our children," continued Mokgatlhe on the importance of both the FIFA Confederations Cup and the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup™ to South Africa.

No one is more aware of the importance of the volunteers than the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee Volunteer Manager, Onke Mjo.

"In these training weekends we are preparing them for all aspects of the event and their different areas of responsibilities. Understanding their value means that we have to train the volunteers properly. When people arrive in the cities and the airports they need to know where they should go, in the stadiums they need to know where they should sit. It is the volunteers that do this".

Training weekends have already taken place in Johannesburg and Tshwane/Pretoria while volunteers from Mangaung/Bloemfontein will go through training from 15 to 17 May.