The reports on South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup coming in from all over the world are overwhelmingly positive  with certain common threads weaving through most of the responses. The substance of most articles is celebratory – describing the connections made across race and class; the nation-building role of the event and the patriotism of all South Africans; the humanity, enthusiasm and generosity of South Africans as hosts; the new-found pride and confidence that the success of the tournament has given us; the re-imagining of South Africa both by ourselves as well as the rest of the world.  These sentiments are encapsulated by various commentators:  
Fred Khumalo in his Sunday Times article 11/07: ‘Yes we can, yes we did’ writes:  What’s been touching with the tournament is that it taught us that when we put our minds to it, we South Africans can be good people, and we can achieve things that we never thought we could. We underestimate ourselves. The tournament opened our eyes to this. It encouraged us to tap into the wells of goodwill that run deep within our collective corpus as a nation. Yes, we can. Mark Gevisser writing for The Guardian says: But ‘we won’ most of all, because we could finally say ‘we’.     
Ivan Vladislavic, in an interview (09/07) with Brian Shrefler of Phillysoccerpage.net says:   South Africans need reasons to celebrate from time to time, especially because we are such a divided society and live in a fragile democracy. Events that draw people together are important. People want to feel that they belong, they need reasons to feel part of something larger than themselves, some positive reason to get together. Danny Jordaan the Chair of the LOC in the Sunday Times (11/07) expressed the view that :  One day historians will reflect how the 2010 Fifa World Cup changed not just the way the world regards South Africa, but also the way South Africans regard each other.

Rather than this symbolic legacy of the tournament, others have looked at the more tangible legacy of infrastructural developments – a nascent public transport system being the most obvious one. Of course several articles refer to the disaster-predicting naysayers whose insistent message was ‘No you can’t’.  In the light of the success of the last 5 weeks, it is deeply satisfying to see the absurdities of some of those negative predictions of doom and gloom . I mean pur..lease … come on …. knife-proof vests imperative kit for visitors to SA; the dangers of poisonous snakes around the English base in Rustenburg ; probable attacks from wild baboons in the Cape; and, as if to mitigate the global havoc played by a certain Northern European ash cloud, the English tabloids wrote of the likelihood of earthquakes set to hit Durban and Cape Town.  As one journalist put it (perhaps a little generously) : ‘you are more likely to be killed by kindness than by criminals in South Africa’.  But as Chris Moerdijk (News 24; 12/07) says of local naysayers:  I’m willing to bet that from now on in South Africa, trying to find someone who didn’t believe we could hold a successful soccer World Cup, will be like trying to find someone who actually voted for the Nats [architects of the Apartheid regime] during the  40 years they were in power

Underlying nearly all the celebratory writing is the cautionary voice which raises the question: can the successful delivery of infrastructure, the organizational logistics, and the energy and goodwill that were all crucial to the success of the World Cup, be transferred to addressing the huge social and economic challenges facing South Africa?  As Tutu, the wonderfully irrepressible ‘Arch’ once said: ‘there is nothing like a deadline to focus the mind’. What then are South Africa’s deadlines for providing effective service delivery, good quality education, sufficient housing, and a competent health care system; for counteracting poverty; and for dealing with crime and corruption? Of course the most obvious one is the next national election in 2012.  In addition can the government apply the principles that made the World Cup a success. These prinicples include a clarity of vision and common purpose, the setting of strict deadlines and therefore adherence to principles of accountability and responsibility, constant monitoring by a hard task master/watchdog, (a more broadly based opposition party would help here), the employment of good and competent people, and harnessing the expertise of private enterprise.

While we are grateful to Sepp Blatter for backing South Africa as the 2010 host, for putting strict deadlines in place for completion of stadia, for insisting on the police presence and the instant law courts, there have been the standard damning critiques of FIFA. These focus on the autocratic demands, the mismanagement of its ticketing system, the marginalization and shoddy treatment of local service providers, the high-handed approach to any perceived competition with their sponsors, and the extravagant expenditure of the FIFA family. Many journos have written of FIFA being the real financial winners of the 2010 World Cup which, it seems, was the most profitable event in FIFA history. Apparently Fifa made $3.2-billion from selling its marketing and television rights, 30% more than it received for the previous tournament. (Buddy Naidu and Rowan Philp ‘What a show’ Sunday Times 11/07)

In contrast, many journalists, local and foreign alike, have referred to the ‘real heroes’ of the World Cup: the some 18,000 volunteers who directed us with good humour and friendliness, the helpful and patient police force who made our public spaces safe, and the everyday ordinary South Africans. It was these people who welcomed our visitors, who belted out all the verses of our extraordinary national anthem – from the initial isiXhosa verse to the last Afrikaans verse with all its dark connotations; who introduced the world to the vuvu (which has now replaced the carved giraffe as airline- cabin-crews’-worst- nightmare-take-home-tourist-curio); and who backed their teams when Bafana went out of the Cup. I just loved this vignette reported in The Star (page 1  by Angelique Serrao, Nontobeko Mtshali, Thandi Skade and Kevin McCallum):  A group of four men stood apart from the rest of the crowd. Dressed as a leopard, dog, frog and gecko, it wasn’t clear what team they supported. “We were over-excited and went to a costume shop,” said Gareth Burton. “We wanted to dress as a bull and matador, but they were sold out.”   

Of course there were certainly glitches and major mess-ups: traffic gridlocks at the opening game, incidents of theft in various hotels as well as pick-pocketing (it seems in most cases the culprits were caught and tried in the specially set up courts – some 100 hearings were held), lack of communication around public transport options and procedures, bottle necks getting out of stadia, power cuts in various suburban areas, etc. But these mistakes were relatively minor in the broad scheme of things which saw  an average of over 49,000 fans attending every match; flights into Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport doubling to 800 a day;  an estimated influx of 300,000 visitors for the World Cup period, etc.   As Chris Moerdyck writes with his inimitable irreverent humour (News 24, 12 /07  in ‘Apologise you bladdy agents’) :    After all, using these few mistakes [ the cock-up at Durban airport, the ticketing fiasco and the traffic jams in Joburg ] to suggest that we failed, would be like cancelling a Miss World pageant because one of the beauty queens had a pimple on her arse. Despite all the worst predictions as David Smith reports in ‘World Cup 2010: Sceptics drowned out by another rainbow nation miracle’ The Guardian 11/07 :  No one died. No one was stabbed, no one was kidnapped and no one took a wrong turn into the clutches of a gang of garrotters. One American tourist did get shot – in the arm – but he wasn’t here to watch the World Cup [and he was in a dodgy part of town].

While the World Cup fever created a sense of community in terms of connectedness and a shared common goal and purpose, it was the opening up of public civic spaces which I found particularly powerful and affective.  Whether it be the Metro Rail to Soccer city, the stadia themselves, the Fan Fests and public viewing places, areas usually either deserted at night (Braamfontein) or somewhat dodgy (around Park Station), because these public spaces were now busy (and policed) they became safe, allowing for freedom of movement and interaction with others sharing this space. For me, this was what was so liberating. Vladislavic (interview 09/07) reflects on this:   ………  South Africans have lived in divided spaces for a long time. In recent years, we have been trying to develop a new sense of public life, of sharing space with other people and breaking down the divisions, but much of our social life is somewhat introverted, one could even say privatized. The World Cup has taken people back into public spaces. …. It was great to be able to walk through parts of the city that are normally deserted at night, to go down and find the streets full of soccer fans on the way to the stadium. The presence of people on city streets always makes them safe. One of the ironies of a city like this is that people avoid the streets because they think they’re unsafe and that’s precisely what makes them  dangerous. Because they’re empty. If you get enough people out on the streets they’re safer.

I loved Brian Shrefler’s response to Vladislavic’s comments:   ‘It sounds like an anomalous snowstorm. It’s exactly what Johannesburg needs, this sudden flurry of community.’

When I drove on the M1 Motorway this afternoon and passed the huge billboard saying ‘There is no greater victory than  uniting a nation. Thank you Bafana’ , I felt  the privilege of being part of it all;  sadness that it is all over and that the World has left our party; huge pride at being South African; and nervous trepidation as to how we will move forward from here.

THANKS to Mike  Bleyenheuft (a.k.a Woogs) for the great photographs

http://www.meniscuszine.com/sports/world-cup-20100704/

‘Liz  Delmont, the proprietor of top-rated guest house Liz at Lancaster, says her foreign guests are often surprised that ‘Joburg is a modern functioning city’, especially after the horror stories in the media back home,. But she feels the city will not be truly tourist friendly until it solves its public transport problems’. 

I remain frustrated that with our extensive rail, road and transport infrastructure, our varied pool of existing transport providers, and our high rate of unemployment, we as Joburgers were still not able to ‘get our act together’  in time for the influx of World Cup visitors and have not been able to give reliable information about transport arrangements, nor deliver consistent and efficient transport around the city and to and from games.  

Of course disappointed with result but we were always expecting a tough match with Uruguay and never expecting Bafana with their ranking, to perform miracles. So let’s keep up the positive vibe and energy, hope that things might work in our favour with the other scores in our pool, and continue to give all our foreign visitors the time of their lives.  

Love this tweet that came in this morning:    ‘Breaking News: World Cup ref gets vuvuzela stuck up his Uruguay’  and of course love Nando’s follow up advert which offered the Uruguay team and their supporters ‘free coke’ if they lost !!! Clearly ‘free coke; wasn’t a sufficient bribe!

Traffic issues For those who made their way to the stadium early (like my son who was so excited he barely slept for the 2 nights beforehand), everything went very smoothly – door-to-door journeys of about an hour.  PARK AND RIDE Some guests left cars at the Wits Park and Ride and took a bus from there to the stadium. Remember that for this option you need to buy tickets beforehand Computicket www.ticketbreak.co.zo/parkride.   Also you need to choose in advance which Park and Ride you will be using – for guests at Liz at Lancaster it would be either Wits Campus or Constitutional Hill.   METRORAIL Other guests parked their cars at Park Station and took the Metrorail (free for those with match tickets). Feedback is that the train was efficient, clean, spacious, there was a great atmosphere and camaraderie, with the presence of Metro police in each carriage and drop–off close to the stadium. Definitely a way to go to both Ellis Park and Soccer City.  In both cases the return trip was longer about 2 hours which is understandable given that the 94,000 seater stadium is emptying all at once.  All said that crowd control and directing of fans both outside and inside the stadium was excellent.
I would not recommend using DROP AND RIDE which operate from 2 points: the Westgate traffic hub in Central Johannesburg and Sandton.  Firstly both of these hubs are near fan parks (Innis Free at Sandton and Mary Fitzgerald Square near Westgate) so there is extra traffic build up with all the traffic coming in to the fan parks. Yesterday this caused major gridlocking particularly in Sandton. In addition from Sandton you are transported to the Westgate hub ie it is much more efficient to go directly to Westgate and cut out one leg of the journey.  

Feel good moments 
* The ‘Arch’ [Archbishop Desmond Tutu boogeying away in the VIP stands with his wide  grin and sheer infectious delight
* Bafana bafana breaking into song in the tunnel as the prepared to enter the field 
* The playful camaraderie between Bafana Bafana fans and Mexican fans in buses and railway carriages on the way to and from the stadium 
For some great photos of the opening ceremony see http://www.sport24.co.za/Galleries/Image/Soccer/2010%20World%20Cup/Opening%20ceremony

Tragic events We send Madiba and his family our deepest sympathies on the death of Zenani   

The time is now … excitement is palpable here at Liz at Lancaster …  Can you feel it.  First sound this morning I heard was vuvuzelas. Get your ear plugs  out …. !!

Dogs have their SA Bandannas, my son came to get some bincoluars on the way to the game.  He is determined to get to Soweto early and soak in the vibe. And our Mexican guests are scared … verrrrrry scared !!!

Sandton FIFA Fan Fest™
Innes Park  is located at Harris Road Sandton and has a capacity 20,000   
PUBLIC VIEWING AREA  Mary Fitzgerald Square Newtown – Corner Jeppe and Henry Nxumalo Streets, Johannesburg.  Capacity: 22 000. There will be entertainment such as live performances by South African artists, DJs, multi-cultural dances, poetry, food festival and comedians during match days. Spectators are encouraged to use public transport as there will be no parking provided for the general public. Expect road closures around the area. Please note: the City will not provide shuttle services to this area.
TOWNSHIP TV
The City of Joburg in partnership with City Parks and MTN has set up nine township TV sites. The 4×3m big screens have been installed in strategic locations in Johannesburg townships in a safe, secure environment with 24 hour security.
Diepsloot Park: Capacity – 4 000 Sarafina Park Ext 2, Midrand
Kremtart Park: Capacity – 6 000 Eldorado Park X3. Stand RE 3032, Kremetart Street.                                                                                Diepkloof Park: Capacity – 1 000 Immink Street, Diepkloof, Soweto Ivory Park: Capacity – 6,000 Haile Selassie Street, Ivory Park
Rose Park: Capacity – 6 000 Zone 3 Rose Avenue, Lenasia
Joubert Park: Capacity – 4 000 Corner Klein and King George streets, Johannesburg
Thokoza Park: Capacity – 6 000 Region D, Zone 3, 1682 Ntuli Street, Moroka, Soweto (Off Old Potch Road), Soweto.
Orlando Dube Park: Capacity – 5 000 Cnr Kliprivier and Armitage Road Orlando West, Soweto.
Orange Farm Regional Park: Capacity – 6 000 The park is just off Regional Street in Orange Farm Extension 1 Regional Street, Orange Farm Ext.2, Orange Farm.
RULES AND REGULATIONS 
Entrance to the public viewing sites is free of charge.
Spectators are allowed to eat and drink inside the venues. 
No alcohol allowed, people will be searched at the entrance 
No selling inside any venues to keep in line with FIFA’s free public viewing license.
TOWNSHIP TV MATCH SCREENING TIMES
First Round Matches:  11 June 2010 – 25 June 2010 from 2h00pm – 11h00 pm
Second Round and Quarter Finals Matches: 26 June 2010 – 03 July 2010 from 2h00pm – 11h30 pm
Semi Finals and Final Matches: 06 July 2010 – 11 July 2010 from 5h00 pm – 11h30pm
Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/5150/168/#ixzz0ppCxgRsp

For MTN Fan Zone, Montecasino and the International Football Village at the Birchwood Hotel  see blog post http://lizatlancaster.co.za/blog/the-next-best-thing-if-you-havent-got-tickets-to-a-match

Also there is a FIFA-endorsed fan park at Stithians College. ‘Indawo’ will showcase not only the games live, but also a whole host of local musicians such as Jozi and Lira.  Tickets to view the games at St Stithians range from R495 – R2995 depending on the level of hospitality that you select. The basic ’supporters’ package for R495, includes access to the Entertainment village; view two matches and a concert per day; wine and malt plus food stalls and parking.

The Market Theatre will be presenting ‘House of the Holy Afro’, Brett Bailey’s eclectic mish-mash of shamanistic ritual and gospel set to a thumping beat.   ‘People’s poet’ Mzwakhe Mbuli will be in action at Xarra Books, as will Phillippa de Villiers, Masoja Msiza, Myesha Jenkins, Boikanyo and many more.  The Market Photo Workshop, Museum Africa, the Workers’ Museum and the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre will host a number of art and photography exhibitions, many of which deal with the theme of soccer.   A selection of the continent’s best cinematic offerings will be screened during the 4th annual Africa on Screen Film Festival at Museum Africa.

Visit www.newtown.co.za for more details of performances and eve

Gauteng’s state-of-the-art Gautrain is set to carry its first passengers from OR Tambo International Airport to Sandton on June 8, three days before the World Cup kick-off. The Star reports that Barbara Jensen, spokeswoman for the Gauteng province on the Gautrain, said four stations – OR Tambo, Rhodesfield in Kempton Park, Marlboro and Sandton – would be fully operational by Saturday, June 5, when the inauguration takes place. Although Sandton will be fully operational, construction will still be in progress for the next few months on the second phase, from Sandton to Park station in central Joburg.