Is sport delivering on legacy? 2010 FIFA world cup: What next?
Special advisor to the Secretary General, Wilfried Lemke
President of the International Olympic Committee, Dr Jacques Rogge
Ladies and gentleman
I am privileged to represent the Republic of South Africa in this august and extremely relevant forum today.
August, because of the calibre of leadership from all walks of life, including the international sporting fraternity.
Extremely relevant, because we are having this discussion at a time when there are various sites of conflict and uncertainty around the world; and places where nations are engaged in internal and cross-border conflicts.
These events are an attack on the attributes of self-respect, respect for others, dignity, the pursuit of excellence, team work and the fulfilment of human potential that embody the culture of sport in all cultural and political contexts around the world.
It is my hope and that of my government that our deliberations here will reinforce sport as a movement for good and for change in a world where we cannot afford to eliminate any sector of society - or any form of human endeavour - from our suite of potential responses or solutions.
Nearly a year ago, it was South Africa’s honour to host the world – in person and through the power of global media – for a month-long celebration of the human spirit in the form of the 2010 Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) World Cup.
The images of spectacular ceremonies and matches in breathtaking stadiums where people from all corners of the world embraced one another without prejudice or judgment are today etched on the minds of millions around the world.
Presented with the historic opportunity to host the first FIFA World Cup on African soil, South Africa worked tirelessly with its continental partners to ensure that the event would remain true to its official call to action: Ke Nako (It is time). Celebrate Africa’s Humanity.
Chairperson, this presentation serves to indicate that a diversity of victories were scored in the course of the six years it took to prepare the African stage for FIFA’s unprecedented venture into our continent, as well as during the four weeks of the Tournament that President Sepp Blatter rated nine out of 10 or like he said, Suma Cum laude!
Given that this was a sporting event, let me remind all of us of the great and hard-fought triumphs and brave and narrow losses on the field of play.
Then there were the socio-economic victories, victories that brought material and physical benefits to our country and continent, that have accelerated the development of sport and of our communities at large.
However, for South Africans and our compatriots across our home continent, the most important triumphs were those in our hearts and minds. This was the triumph, earned through common purpose and determination, of affirming the African Agenda of peace, development and prosperity.
We believe that in the course of a remarkable month, our sense of self-belief and celebration of our demonstrated capability rippled positively into the consciousness of all those who visited us or viewed us via mass media.
If I may attempt a sporting analogy at this point, it would be to say that Afro pessimism was knocked out in the first round!
I wish to suggest that this shift in perception and appreciation of African innovation and enterprise is the most valuable and most durable legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In terms of our national politics, the FIFA World Cup bore the distinction that successive Presidents and leaders of the Opposition in South Africa jointly ushered the event towards realisation in the course of six years.
At no stage was the hosting of the World Cup manipulated as a "political football". However, behind any assessment of our achievement lie the cold, hard facts and operations of ensuring, as we needed to, that we would – to put it bluntly – be able to live with ourselves once a landmark event of this kind had passed through South Africa.
We all understand that it is common practice in the international bidding system for governments - that underwrite mega-events - to demand that legacy issues be addressed as core to the bidding process.
Taxpayers and citizens at large demand the assurance that such events will deliver sustained and diverse benefits to the society, economy or region in question on the basis that it is economically and morally unsound to invest large-scale capital expenditure on a so-called good time for a few.
Governments that are tasked with providing basic social amenities and services are challenged in the court of public opinion and accountability to justify the choices made to host mega - events.
Hosting the FIFA World Cup was not about hosting an event, or a series of events and meetings. Instead, it was about building a legacy in infrastructure, economic growth, job creation, nation building and upgrading “Brand South Africa” in international awareness.
In fact, right from the outset in 1994 when the leadership decided to bid to host the FIFA World Cup one of the motivations uppermost in their minds was the need to rebrand the country from the land known as the land of apartheid to the land of hope and of new opportunities.
Concomitant to this was the wish to liberate the continent from the perception of Africa as a hopeless continent which Afro-pessimists claim that we are and to demonstrate that we had the ability to host a world class event in world class infrastructure and state of the art new age technology. In the end the event positioned Africa and Africans as equals amongst the people of the World.
In dispelling the extent of “Afro-pessimism” which previously existed, we have been able to establish a platform from which to launch initiatives to attract more economic investment to South Africa, to create a new work ethic based on delivery and to become a “can do” nation.
This demonstrates, very powerfully, the role of sport as a catalyst for far-reaching transformation and development.
In turning to the issue of economic impact, it stands to reason that this was one of the areas of greatest expectation among South Africans, whether they were citizens requiring job opportunities, or businesses seeking maximum benefit from this unprecedented opportunity.
For the South African Government, a key concern was that small businesses ought to benefit substantially from the event. To this end, the FIFA World Cup served as an important developmental accelerator.
- As government, we provided just under US$5 billion for infrastructure spend, separate from operational costs.
As we undertook this work, we were presented with occasional, public allegations at home and abroad namely, that funding to build facilities, whether sport or general infrastructure, could have been better put to use on poverty alleviation and social welfare projects.
In reality, we maintained a balanced portfolio. We did not cut back on social spending in order to host the FIFA World Cup.
In fact, the investment in World Cup projects was designed to ensure that more South Africans would be more self-sufficient rather than dependent.
As we prepared, an estimated 159 000 jobs were created. In addition, 15 000 volunteers were trained to assist FIFA and the organising committee in the running of the event.
In tourism – the showcase through which more than two million visitors physically experienced the country - we derived the following benefits:
- The number of airlines serving South African destinations in 2005 was five, this grew to 50 in 2011. In 2010, these airlines brought in millions of passengers during the course of the year, with 230 000 safe and efficient landings.
- In 2010, we had a 15% increase in the number of tourist arrivals over 2009 or an increase of 1 million people, outperforming every other region in the world
- There was an overall increase of 109% in visitors from central and south America, opening up new markets for South Africa.
- 59% of the visitors came to South Africa for the first time, again emphasising the ability of the event to open up new tourist markets for us particularly when 90% of the tourists said that they would recommend South Africa to friends and family to visit.
The third and most tangible impact has been the built environment:
- Our ports of entry have been upgraded.
- Many of the base camp venues at our tertiary institutions have been able to upgrade their facilities.
- Roads from many of our airports to the respective cities have been upgraded.
Of course, we have 10 upgraded or new football stadia which housed 3,1 million spectators cumulatively during the FIFA World Cup, including the iconic Green Point stadium in Cape Town, which received an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sport and Environment Award- two weeks ago.
- Perhaps more importantly we have 52 new training facilities to which schools and clubs have access for community activities.
- From a grant from our National Lottery, 27 Astroturf facilities for football have been created around the country, the first instalment of a total of 52 planned.
While we have hosted a successful FIFA World Cup, the focal point for many programmes has been football.
However, we have to be careful to ensure that we do not promote football at the expense of other sports, in the understanding that not every school child is a potential football player – there will be gymnasts, synchronised swimming and downhill skiing champions among them.
We have viewed football related programmes as a means to an end – a means of introducing young people to a popular sport so that they continue to be active in a sport of their choice.
Like all hosts of mega-events before us, and probably those after us, the leverage of the event loses its lustre once the teams have left. Funding for programmes diminishes greatly within a very short space of time.
The sustainability of programmes has to be assured before the closing ceremony. We have been lucky in that we have been able to argue coherently that the FIFA World Cup is a catalyst to sports development and to increasing participation across the country.
We have achieved that!
To summarise, we have benefited in:
- Increased social cohesion and self-belief
- A re-branding of South Africa as a nation at the tip of Africa that delivers
- Opening up new tourist markets
- Encouraging new initiatives to promote tourism and therefore continue the benefit to our economy
- Promoting programmes in neighbouring countries so that they too could benefit
- More sports facilities and more people participating in sport for recreational and competitive purposes
Having said this, there remain challenges for us to continue the momentum. Maintaining social cohesion, deepening and sustaining it presents the most important challenge to us as we continue to build the “Rainbow Nation”; as we continue to bring the phoenix out of the ashes.
Having said that, I can put my hand on my heart and say to you that “Today is better than yesterday” that, as a result of South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The words of our wise and visionary founding President Nelson Mandela best conclude my input here today.
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”
This is true of all humanity.
I thank you.
Source: Sport and Recreation South Africa
