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Locals balk at 2010 costs
12/04/2006 13:58 - (SA)
Cape Town - Alarm and indignation hang heavy over the manicured greens of the 110-year-old Metropolitan golf course, which looks set to be devoured by a 68 000-seat stadium to be erected in the heart of Cape Town for the 2010 World Cup.
Concern is not confined to the privileged putters on the nine-hole course. It is shared by town planners, the new mayor and many residents who argue the anticipated cost of more than R1bn (US$165m) is unreasonable, given a desperate shortage of decent housing and services in the city's poverty-stricken suburbs.
In a typical letter to a local newspaper, resident Jacci Rudling wrote: "Cape Town can ill afford to spend the kind of money that is being suggested on four days of soccer in 2010. These funds would be better spent on the issues that plague Cape Town residents every day of every year."
Across South Africa, initial euphoria at winning the right to host the World Cup is giving way to concern that the soccer gala may cause less gain than promised, and more pain than predicted.
World soccer body Fifa is likely to be the biggest winner thanks to television rights deals worth an anticipated $2.2bn and sponsorship agreements.
Local firms could lose
Local firms could lose out under stringent marketing rules which would, for instance, promote Fifa's partner Budweiser beer at the expense of South Africa's Castle.
"It has always been clear from the beginning that the Fifa World Cup is a business to help Fifa make money," said Achille Mbembe, a University of Witwatersrand researcher who is organising 2010 seminars. "It is not a free lunch."
The SA government maintains the benefits far outweigh the costs. The organising committee quotes estimates from consulting firm Grant Thornton that the World Cup will pump around R21.3bn ($3.5bn) into the economy and create an estimated 159 000 new jobs. Hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected.
"This is a major opportunity for us to promote our country and our continent," said government spokesperson Joel Netshitenze after an April 5 Cabinet meeting issued a public rebuke to 2010 detractors.
Authorities plan to spend about R5bn ($823m) on building and renovating 10 stadiums, and a further R8.7bn ($1.4bn) on upgrades to airports, roads and railway lines.
White elephant
The decision to build a new facility on the Cape Town waterfront came as a surprise, as the original intention was to refurbish the existing rugby stadium in Newlands for first-round matches.
Helen Zille, the Democratic Alliance mayor who took over from President Thabo Mbeki's African National Congress in March 1 local elections, has challenged the plans, saying they were hastily conceived and risked saddling the city with a costly "white elephant".
Zille fears central Cape Town's transport and sewage system won't be able to cope.
For the golf club, the news came as a "bolt from the blue", said stalwart Fergus Keeny. The course, the only one in downtown Cape Town, is used by thousands of visitors in addition to its 650 regular members.
"It would be very sad to see it replaced by a huge concrete monument," he said.
Legal action
Some 350 angry residents packed a public meeting on Tuesday and said they would consider legal action to stop the stadium.
Mbembe, the University of the Witwatersrand researcher, said that in the short-term, it made economic sense to have on the waterfront for the World Cup, but said in the longer term it would be better to have it in the townships where most of the soccer fans live, given the problems of lack of transport into the city center.
"But to enjoy real long term benefits from the World Cup, you need a number of things," he added. "First you need a proper soccer team."
The South African squad didn't qualify for this year's World Cup, crashed out of the African Cup of Nations and is without a coach.
- AP
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