Thomson Reuters Africa Manager, Busisa Jiya
Ladies and gentlemen
We meet during one of the most exciting and colourful periods in the history of our country. We said during the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening media briefing on 6 June that South Africa has never experienced such vibrancy and jubilation since the release of President Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners in 1990.
The release, as well as the unbanning of political organisations marked the beginning of the end of apartheid oppression in our country. Back then, our white community in particular, was anxious, fearing an unknown future.
The World Cup competition has demonstrated the strides we have made. The rainbow nation is united and filled with pride and excitement at being the centre of the world. We are truly excited by the success and the spirit engulfing the country. For the first time ever in the 16 years of freedom and democracy, we see black and white South Africans celebrating together in the stadiums and fan parks.
This unity and explosion of national pride will go down in our history as one of the most defining moments of the history of our young nation. Two weeks into the competition, we can proudly say that everything has gone according to plan with regards to the logistics of the tournament. This is due to careful planning that began on 15 May 2004 when we were declared the host country.
The attendance figures at stadiums and fan parks remain very high and impressive. The opening ceremony marking our national squad Bafana Bafana’s first game against Mexico on Friday attracted 11 million viewers, the biggest South African television audience ever for a single event.
Statistics indicate an impressive 92% average attendance at the matches. Five hundred and eighty four thousand three hundred and ninety six (584 396) spectators attended the first 11 games of the tournament, out of a maximum seating capacity of 626 259 fans. It is also very impressive that the said kick-off match was attended by more than 84 000 fans. The same number of fans attended the Brazil versus Cote d’Ivoire match on Sunday, 20 June.
That consistent figure indicates that the excitement around the tournament remains as electric now as it was two weeks ago. There is definitely no lull in the country. This is a never-ending celebration of world class football. We have noticed that some international football fans have taken to the vuvuzela horn in a big way and some even outperform South Africans. This tournament is truly as vibrant as the African continent can ever be!
The ease with which fans go in and out of stadiums indicates the excellent state of organisation. We congratulate our logistics teams, from both South Africa and the 31 participating nations. Public transport forms the backbone of transport plans for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
We have invested more than 40 billion rand on public transport for the tournament, from airports, upgraded train stations and refurbished coaches to luxury buses and rapid public transport networks such as the bus rapid transit system. Our new Gautrain speed train sold 42 000 tickets during the weekend of 12 to 13 June, demonstrating its popularity on its very first operational weekend.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup with regard to the increase in the number of foreign travellers to the Country is clearly evident from information obtained through the Movement Control System reports. During the period 1 to 13 June, these systems have recorded the arrival of more than one million travellers into the country. Of this figure, close to five hundred thousand were foreigners.
We acknowledge the hard work of our staff at ports of entry that have processed arrivals seamlessly. We also applaud our security apparatus for their efficiency and effectiveness. Our hardworking police have wasted no time in apprehending culprits for reported cases. Our special World Cup courts, staffed by dedicated prosecutors working with dedicated teams of detectives, magistrates and interpreters, have been sitting late into the night to try cases linked to the tournament. We promised swift justice to World Cup offenders and we are delivering on our undertaking.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Many people ask about the legacy of the World Cup. We view the tournament not as an end in itself, but as a catalyst for development whose benefits would be felt long after the final whistle. That is why the national government has spent billions of rands on transportation, telecommunications infrastructure as well as stadiums.
The stadiums alone created 66 000 new construction jobs, generating 7,4 billion rand in wages, with 2,2 billion going to low income households and therefore contributing to a reduction in poverty. Though stadiums have been the most visible part of the World Cup related expenditure, the lion’s share of the expenditure has gone into transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, and the renovations of our ports of entry for visitors.
The fight against crime has also received a fortifying boost, with 1,3 billion rand being spent on safety and security. This has resulted in forty thousand new, well-trained police officers on our country’s streets. These recruits will remain on the force, leading to a permanently safer South Africa. We are proud of the fact that we have comfortably financed all of this investment out of current expenditure because of our fiscal prudence, as well as the high levels of tax compliance over the years.
We reiterate that we want education to be a lasting legacy of the tournament. We want decision makers to prioritise the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2. We must promote universal access to primary school education for children all over the world. We had called a high level education summit on 7 July.
Several decision makers that we are targeting, especially Heads of State and Government and Eminent Persons have confirmed their attendance of the World Cup closing ceremony on 11 July. They would like to be part of the Summit. We have therefore agreed to shift the Summit to 11 July to accommodate them.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We applaud the interest in this campaign by many in our country, including the hard work of one of the key ambassadors of the One Goal Education campaign, Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Mokoena.
Later today, Bafana Bafana meets France in Bloemfontein. We are proud of our national team. We have seen great improvement in the squad which shows that the work of the coach Carlos Perreira and his team is paying off.
We urge the nation to keep supporting Bafana Bafana and to come out in the customary huge numbers this evening at the stadiums and fan parks. While supporting our national squad, we must also remember that we have a much bigger responsibility. We are hosting this tournament on behalf of the African continent. We must succeed and we are doing exceptionally well so far.
We have a lot of work to do until the final whistle. We would bear this enormous responsibility as South Africans even if Bafana Bafana were not participating in the competition. All 31 participating teams and their supporters are our special guests. We applaud the support that South Africans have given all of them. Our warmth and Ubuntu have been shining through and visitors’ attest to that.
The rainbow flag continues to fly high in celebration of the victory of hosting one of the greatest sporting tournaments in the world. We extend a warm welcome to the world again to our country. We urge all to continue enjoying world class football on African soil, and celebrate this once in a lifetime opportunity.
South Africa will never be the same again after this 2010 World Cup!
I thank you!
Source: The Presidency
