Cape Town will have a giant wheel, similar to those in London and Paris, at the V&A Waterfront ahead of the World Cup - and it will remain for at least six months.
The 50m diametre wheel, designed and supplied by Wheel of Excellence, is being shipped to South Africa from the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
It is smaller than the London Eye (which is 135m high), but similar to the 60m wheel in London's Hyde Park.
Ronald Bussink, its designer, said it couldn't be compared to a Ferris wheel: "This is a stand-alone, a major tourist attraction."
The wheel has 36 enclosed air-conditioned capsules holding eight people. Each trip accommodates 288 people.
Running daily from 10am until 10pm (with the possibility of extending running hours until midnight), the wheel could accommodate 15 000 riders a day.
At night it is lit up by 2 million LED lights, which consume only two kilowatts of energy an hour.
It will be set up at the Gateway Canal at the Waterfront, accessed from the Coen Steytler entrance.
Tickets for a ride are expected to sell for R70, but the Waterfront expects to have various pricing plans, including family packages, and a cost for the hiring of a private cabin. A VIP cabin with leather seats and Champagne bar will also be available
Two of the cabins are accessible to wheelchair users.
The wheel will turn at a stately "panoramic speed" and each trip will last 15 to 20 minutes, allowing those on top panoramic views of Table Mountain, Robben Island, Cape Town Stadium and the Paarl Mountains. The Waterfront in-tends having the wheel functioning as early as June.
"This is a major coup... it's the first time a wheel like this has been in South Africa," said V&A Waterfront commercial director for 2010, John Elliott.
There are Wheel of Excellence wheels in major tourist destinations such as London, Brisbane, Perth, Copenhagen, Kuala Lumpur and Niagara Falls.
Elliott said the required permits had been obtained from the city. The permit is valid for six months.
Felicity Purchase, the mayoral committee member for Economic Development and Tourism, said news of the wheel was "tremendous".
"I have been on the London Eye and the Singapore Eye and at each one there are permanent queues."
