South Africa Pins Hopes On 2010

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A legacy of success

The rugby world cup took place on the back of South Africa's honeymoon re-emergence into international affairs following the devastating effects of years of isolation as a result of apartheid. At that time, the world wanted South Africa to succeed and the whole of South Africa was behind its inaugural international event: South Africa was the darling of the world. The 2010 world cup in comparison, however, has been stiffled with controversy and concern about the South African Local Organising Committee's (LOC) ability to deliver. “The confederations cup, held recently, compounded fears of a forthcoming disaster following the bundling of transportation logistics and the training of security personnel at the hands of the LOC” said Welman.

Facing the realities of the 21st century

In July 2007, a fast, comfortable and low cost urban transport system, called the "Bus Rapid Transit" (BRT) system was announced 2010 for host cities' Cape Town, Tshwane, Durban, and Bloemfontein among several others which was supposed to promote the use of public transport ahead of the 2010 soccer spectacle. The BRT has been described as a high quality, customer oriented transport system which will deliver fast, comfortable, and low cost urban mobility, involving the construction of "bus way corridors" on segregated lanes and modernised technology. This bus system will also have routes leading to the training and main stadiums. The problem is that the system is way behind schedule to be rolled out. Caught between political spats hanging over from the Thabo Mbeki administration and the sometimes violent protests of disgruntled taxi drivers, the BRT system was an unexpected casualty.

All is not lost

Thankfully, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Recently, South Africa promised to fix transport problems seen as one of the major concerns ahead of next year's World Cup. Soccer's ruling body FIFA flagged transport as a major issue after the 2009 Confederations Cup tournament, which was seen as a dress rehearsal for the much bigger 2010 competition. There were serious difficulties with getting fans away from stadiums after matches in the eight-nation tournament. FIFA also highlighted lack of accommodation and security in crime-plagued South Africa as issues to be solved before 2010. Minibus taxi operators, who are the mainstay of transport for working class South Africans, lit fires on roads, threw stones at buses and shops and even threatened to use guns.

"We have now entered a phase that is not going to be characterised by conflict ... we are now in the post-conflict phase with the taxi industry," Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele told parliament during his budget speech. Besides sorting out the troubled taxi and bus sectors, South Africa would invest some R25bn (approximately $3bn) over the next three years to upgrade the rail passenger service, Ndebele said.

It seems that the LOC, for a long time considered by many as unresponsive to highlighted security concerns that were all too often spin doctored rather than given direct answers, has seen the writing on the wall. Rejuvenation of its security department is underway and although the LOC remains tight-lipped about changes, a senior member of its security department has moved on to make way for new blood. There is every possibility that the LOC can deliver its mandate and the direct intervention from Ndebele could not have come sooner, however, the clock remains unconcerned and time is still ticking away.

About Pasco

Pasco is a multi-faceted and highly specialised, global risk consulting company. We provide our clients with the necessary breadth of services required by them to operate successfully and safely within frontier markets and high risk environments throughout Africa, Central Eastern Europe, CIS, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

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About Mark Welman

Dr. Mark Welman is Pasco Managing Director for Africa and head of the Africa practice.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 December 2009 11:59