Football has the power to unite and act as a catalyst for change. But as the 2010 World Cup kicks off, Brand Nthako from ActionAid South Africa explains the effects it is having on his country.

There’s no doubt that many South Africans are enraptured, possibly even euphoric, about the World Cup. So too is our government. In order to convince ordinary, poor South Africans of the benefits of the tournament, the government tells us how much the extra investment will boost our economy, while the South African Football Association pats itself on the back for creating so many jobs.

The media – both state and private – seems to have jumped on the patriotic bandwagon, telling us it’s an event the like of which hasn’t been seen since the release of Nelson Mandela in 1991. They too encourage poor people to believe the World Cup is good for the country and the economy – ignoring the massive amounts of money being invested in new stadiums instead of in badly needed basic services.

The poor masses blow their vuvuzelas (football horns) in anticipation of the jobs that will flow from the event – but ten years after they were first promised, people’s lives have not changed. In Sakhile community, residents are still awaiting the school promised them if they allowed the building of the 43,500-seater Mbombela stadium, while residents in nearby Bushbuckridge still have no access to safe, clean water.

Big sponsors such as Coca Cola and McDonald’s bought the rights to the games long ago, meaning they are the only ones allowed to trade inside and around the stadiums during the tournament. This means local businesses that have been feeding us home-cooked, reasonably-priced pap (porridge), morogo (spinach) and vleis (meat) for years have been frozen out – they are not allowed near the stadiums, and they certainly won’t be selling any of their food.

If this weren’t enough, those lucky enough to be in a job and earning the weekly minimum wage of R250 (roughly £22) are being encouraged to buy the South Africa team jersey – priced at a hefty R900 (£80). The soccer-loving people of South Africa – used to paying less than R50 (£4) to watch the cup final of the well-known Soweto derby – will have to fork out R140 (£12) to watch even first-round World Cup games. Millions of soccer fans will be excluded, while business will be booming for the very few.

Government spending

To date, the government has spent R17.5 billion (£1.5 billion) of taxpayers’ money building five new stadiums and renovating another five – a staggering R12.1 billion (£1.05 billion) was used to build Green Point, Moses Mabida, Nelson Mandela and Peter Mokaba stadiums. How will we use all these stadiums after 2010? How can this be anything other than irresponsible spending by our government?

Money such as this could have been better used by funding Eskom – our national electricity provider –  to invest in new ways to generate electricity instead of borrowing US$3.7 billion from the World Bank to build the new Medupi power plant, which will destroy land, burn more coal and exacerbate global warming.

It could also have been used to investigate and invest in the use of alternative/renewable energy in the form of wind, sun and sea. But instead we have yet another huge external debt that poor South Africans will have pay off over the next few decades.

Our government has been preoccupied with making sure we are ready to show the world how well we ‘do’ football. Never mind the fact that thousands of construction workers have not yet been properly paid, leading to unrest and disputes about wages and employment conditions. Or the fact that areas where the games will take place have been the scene of protests by people demanding the quota of free water and electricity that is every citizen’s right in our country. They have not received it yet because our leaders have – excuse the pun – taken their eye off the ball.

While the government spends millions on soccer stadiums, ActionAid is helping communities such as one in Limpopo province build a multipurpose community centre. This was done without any financial contribution from the government, even though it’s the kind of amenity they should be providing. In the same area, ActionAid is helping document some of the effects of platinum mining on poor communities – years of water contamination, forced relocations and loss of land – while the companies that take our minerals and gold prepare to spend £1-2k for a box at any game their board or managers wish to attend.

ActionAid South Africa cannot afford to stand by and say nothing about this inequity, and we will continue to heartily push our development work, while lobbying the government to play its part. We will also continue to advocate for community development, and to identify more places where we can effectively combat poverty, for as long as it takes to make change happen.

Viva ActionAid South Africa!

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