“They promised a boost in business, but I haven’t seen it.†Those were the words of a craft merchant in the heart of Cape Town, looking around a near-empty mall just a stone’s throw from Green Point stadium four days before the kick-off of the 2010 World Cup. Amidst all of the fanfare – the soccer ball water fountains, the stores filled with vuvuzelas, the ubiquitous Adidas billboards – and all of pomp about what an African World Cup might mean, this simple, poignant statement left us with a sinking feeling. Will the World Cup do right by South Africa?
In the lead-up to the 2010 Cup, the flip-side question has been the obsession of the Western media. Is South Africa up to the task of preparing for an international sporting event of the magnitude of the World Cup? Will the stadiums be built on time? Will fans be able to get to and from the venues? Will there be enough hotel rooms for everyone who will come? And above all, will it be safe enough for tourists toting cameras and cash?
But enough ink has been spilled on these topics and too much of it has been laced with the racism that permeates criticism of the African tournament organizers. We have found it more compelling to consider how Africans will benefit from the Cup. On this front, there are some ominous signs.
We were shocked to learn that the Ministry of Education added two weeks to the winter vacation for schools in order to be sure that schools would be closed during the Cup. Two extra weeks? And the reasons given . . . to prevent against absenteeism by students and adults and to alleviate congestion on the public transportation systems. Seriously? You put millions of families in the position of scrambling for child care or leaving children at home unattended because you suspect some of them might play hooky to watch the games or take up a seat on a bus? Truly unbelievable when you consider the connections between instructional time, student achievement, educational attainment and, ultimately, economic and social well-being.
With more unsupervised time, South African children are vulnerable in so many ways. One child advocacy organization pointed out that, with the influx of a large number of men (95% of guests to the World Cup are expected to be men), there’s an increased risk of children being victims to sex trafficking. You won’t find that eventuality on the FIFA website.
On another note, a much higher percentage of match tickets have been bought by foreigners than at any World Cup in recent memory. It was illuminating to learn that, in addition to the often prohibitive cost of tickets, local sales were dampened by the fact that all transactions were done online despite limited internet access in many South African communities.
Finally, there’s the question of jobs. We asked the leader of a refugee support organization, Whole World Women Association, what she thought the benefits and challenges of hosting the World Cup to be. Her answer: “Jobs were added, but many livelihoods were lost.†Operating in the shadows of the informal economy, many refugees and other low-income South Africans have found themselves swept away from the city center “fan zones.†Some people able to swap their previous informal services and goods to selling World Cup flags may be weathering the transition, but that is cold comfort. So, while the Cup has undoubtedly created jobs and opportunities for local entrepreneurs to cash in on an influx of visitors, the net effect of the Cup on jobs seems up in the air.
Amidst all of these worries, there’s Nelson Mandela. On our second day in Cape Town, we visited Robben Island where a former political prisoner walked us around the barren cell blocks and gave us a lesson in redemption. It was inspiring to hear from a veteran of the struggle and to see the very place where Mandela – one of the world’s truly great heroes – endured for two decades before emerging victorious and on his own terms.
Coming away from that experience, we were reminded that Mandela is a big booster of the World Cup and has used sport in the past to unite his nation (he famously donned the jersey of the rugby national team captain and embraced that white-dominated sport’s World Cup as a way to demonstrate that he was a leader of all South Africans). Mandela, at 91, is slated to attend the opening match of the Bafana Bafana on Friday. We know that his presence will legitimate the World Cup to many of its supporters and we hope that his confidence will be borne out in long-lasting benefit to the people of South Africa.