Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am pleased to be in London, following the very successful visit here in March by our President, Mr Jacob Zuma.
On that occasion, the South African Government and private sector entered into various agreements and contracts that will benefit our two countries in a variety of ways.
This is particularly welcome at a time when the world economy remains under pressure, and the world confronts various political, social and ecological challenges.
The United Kingdom holds a special place in South Africa’s extensive international relations, and will continue to do so as we expand cooperation across a range of strategic sectors, as well as people-to-people contact.
Speaking of people-to-people contact, we are humbled by the experience of hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, from 11 June to 11 July 2010, which brought the whole world to the “cradle of human kind”.
We attribute our successful hosting of the event to careful planning that began as early as 15 May 2004 when South Africa was declared the host country of the 2010 World Cup.
It was an exercise that brought together the world around an African stage and showcased the warm African hospitality from various service points such as airports, hotels, restaurants, FIFA Fan Fests and many other public viewing and entertainment establishments inside and outside South Africa.
I have no doubt that the impact of this event will reverberate positively around our country, our Continent and the world for many years to come.
Our immigration Movement Control System, Administration of Justice, stadium, information and communication technology, safety and security, public transport, tourism skills and service excellence and improved health infrastructure already benefit our people and local soccer fans.
Our tourism Skills and Service Excellence project exposed 14 218 frontline staff to service excellence training and approximately 15 000 volunteers worked in various areas of the tournament. This is the single biggest event that developed skills through volunteerism, especially for our youth.
The presence of fans and visitors from all over the world contributed to the international flavour and overall success of the Event.
FIFA reported that a total of 3.2 million spectators attended the 64 matches of the tournament, the third highest aggregate attendance behind the United States in 1994 and Germany in 2006.
This figure excludes the millions of people who watched World Cup games at fan fests, fan parks and public viewing areas.
Our department of Home Affairs recorded 2.1 million arrivals between 1 June and 11 July 2010. This figure was a significant increase from the 1.6 million which was recorded in the same period last year.
In this regard, this visit is an opportunity for me, on behalf of the Government and the people of South Africa, to thank the English Football Association and every single football supporter or visitor in any capacity, who travelled to South Africa for the World Cup.
We are confident that South African athletes and supporters will return the favour two years from now when this great city of London hosts the Olympic Games.
During the six years of preparing for the Wold Cup we turned self-doubt and cynicism into confidence and hope.
Our mass mobilisation campaigns prior to and during the tournament enhanced the self-confidence of our people as hosts of this great tournament.
Six months from the beginning of the World Cup tournament, every Friday was declared Football Friday allowing all South Africans to wear national football colours to work and to school.
Corporates, government and foreign representatives in South Africa encouraged the Football Fridays’ culture within their workplaces, flew flags and sang national anthems of the countries that participated in the tournament.
We were made to unleash our imagination and harness the productive energy of our people, while confronting nay-saying, scepticism and lies in various parts of the world.
We were made to do all of this while ensuring that the event would leave a lasting legacy of development and renewed self-belief for our people and our compatriots across the Continent.
In the end, more than three million international visitors – the majority of them from our own continent – witnessed an event that was a triumph, both in spirit and efficiency.
We can safely declare that South Africa is a better place for having hosted the 2010 World Cup.
The most important legacy is that of 50 million citizens and residents whose hard work secured a world-class tournament, and who are now filled with the hope that the country can achieve even greater things.
As a nation that can be very hard on itself, we are now looking to harness the spirit and management practice of the World Cup to ensure that we address our lingering socio-economic challenges with the same focus and efficiency.
Among the lessons we learnt are:
- How to manage big national projects which are based on tight deadlines;
- How to mobilise the nation towards the same goal; and
- How to co-ordinate local and international stakeholders.
The creation of a better life for all is our central national enterprise. The World Cup itself was a significant contribution to a better life for all.
Working together with private sector stakeholders, in many ways, both domestically and internationally, repositioned South Africa as a country that is developing rapidly and one that is a major competitor in hosting global events.
We thank all our country’s ambassadors and members of the diplomatic community for their efforts of showcasing our country’s diversity in areas such as arts, culture, heritage, music, cuisine and dance all over the world.
We are inspired by the positive shift in global perception of our country and our Continent, which is the result of years of focused attention, as well as the many hours of media broadcasts that reached more than 200 territories around the world during the tournament.
For example, in May this year YouGovStone carried out research among its network of influential people on behalf of SABMiller, to establish their views on the imminent tournament.
The results were, to say the very least, discouraging:
- Only 29% of those polled thought that the World Cup in South Africa would be a great success; and
- Nearly 60% expected that there would be problems with security, transport and logistics and that the average South African would not benefit from the event.
In a post World Cup survey conducted by the same YouGovStone, a positive shift in attitudes towards South Africa was apparent.
It revealed that:
- 72% believed that the World Cup would have a very positive or positive legacy for South Africa - compared to the 29% of those polled before the event, who had thought it would be a success.
- 54% thought that it would bring great benefits to South Africa.
- 61% said that, as a result of the success of the World Cup, they thought that South Africa would be a good place to hold global events of all kind.
- 42% felt more positive about visiting South Africa as tourists.
FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, rated South Africa’s hosting at “9 out of 10”; but we are just as pleased to award South Africans “10 out of 10” for bringing to life our national call to action: “Working Together, We Can Do More.”
Our experience of the World Cup proved to be one of enormous success, bringing the country together. Equally, we hope that the Olympic Games would bring about the same experience to England.
We wish the people of this country the very best as they finalise the preparations for the Olympic Games and also, as they enter the challenging 2018 World Cup bidding process.
I thank you.
For more information, please contact:
Vusi Mona
Cell: 082 047 2260
