Will the Doubting Thomases ever be satisfied?

Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 17 March 2009

Not so long ago, South Africans marked 500 days to the start of the historic 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Various stakeholders involved in delivering the soccer spectacle - and soccer lovers across the country and the world - used the occasion to reflect on the road travelled up to now, and what remains to be done.

We got together to celebrate the great opportunity accorded to us as a young democratic county. Many in the international media celebrated with us, dedicating significant space and airtime to help us communicate the message that, indeed, "Africa's time has come: South Africa is ready."

Considering the amount of work done so far on 2010 projects, there should be no need to be issuing out assurances that South Africa will be ready to host a successful FIFA World Cup come 2010. The work now speaks for itself. Our country is now literally a construction site.

The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup will be taking place in a few months from now; and there is no doubt that all the four host cities will be ready come the day. Everything is shaping up and tickets to both the Confederations Cup and the World Cup are already on sale.

Whilst many of us are preparing to welcome soccer lovers to our shores next year, sceptics remain unconvinced that we'll be able to host a successful tournament.

They ask a lot of questions about a wide range of issues, ranging from crime, match attendance to the very usefulness of hosting the biggest soccer tournament in the world.

Ideally, the sceptics shouldn't be asking questions at this stage of our preparations, because the work now speaks for itself.

But, they continue to ask:"What if criminals take advantage of unsuspecting tourists? Will the police be up to the task? Will our hotels be able to accommodate the volume of spectators expected? What if the fans don't pitch and the stadiums are empty?"

Some even go as far as asking: "What is the point of spending so much money on upgrading infrastructure for the world cup when so many South Africans are poor and in need of state intervention? Aren't the tickets unaffordable, particularly given the levels of poverty in our country and continent? Won't the stadiums become white elephants after 2010?"

These are justifiable questions, except for the fact that some of the most vocal Doubting Thomases asking these questions look the other way when presented with facts.

Some of them, though, ask these questions innocently, acting out of utter ignorance.

There are certain realities the 2010 sceptics do not want to admit; and these include the fact that:

* The FIFA World Cup is coming to South Africa; and there is no turning back. Africa's time has come: South Africa is ready.

* People are already benefiting from 2010 opportunities. Just ask the construction workers in the stadiums, on the roads, on our telecommunications infrastructure, in the offices.

* 2010 is a great opportunity to market South Africa internationally; and some of the soccer tourists will hopefully return years after the tournament.

* Many of the stadiums are actually multi-purpose centres, to be used for a variety of occasions well into the future.

NB: This article also appears on News24, available on the following link:
http://www.news24.com/News24/MyNews24/Your_story/0,,2-2127-2128_2481133,00.html