Transmisiones Patrimoniales Onerosas

The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ event offered an unprecedented opportunity to portray the other face of Africa to the world, with the planned event bringing much joy to many South Africans, as well as to the citizens of other African nations (South Africa, 2008). Such commentators as Theron (2008) have argued that, although the continent might be contented that South Africa brought the 2010 FIFA World Cup™

to Africa, South Africa would have to repay its fellow nations for using the continent as a marketing tool. With such ideology in mind, South Africa committed the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ to not being a South African World Cup, but rather an „African Cup‟. Desai and Vahed (2010:155) claim that “South Africa stands not as a country alone, but rather as a representative of Africa and as part of an African family”. With such a pledge having been made to the world and to the rest of the continent, the ALP was born.

The ALP is a pillar on which the African ownership of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™

was to rest (ANC, 2007). As with many mega sporting events, it was expected that the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ would bring benefits to the African continent. Such legacy benefits differed from the legacy discourse associated with other mega sporting events in three main respects:

Legacy benefits were not to be confined to the host country.

The host country itself undertook to make a continent-wide legacy of the core focus areas involved in preparing for the event.

The AU, as an intergovernmental forum for continental integration, was actively involved in efforts that were aimed at ensuring that the 2010 legacy agenda was owned continent-wide (ANC, 2007).

In November 2006, the ALP was officially launched by the World Cup LOC, which included members of the AU and of the South African government. Such a programme aimed at supporting the realisation of African Renaissance objectives, including such programmes of the AU as the New Partnership for Africa‟s Development, which ensured maximum and effective African participation in the 2010 event; at supporting efforts aimed at strengthening and promoting the development and advancement of African football; and at improving Africa‟s global image (ANC, 2007; South African Tourism, 2007). The ALP gained support from four main key stakeholders: FIFA; CAF; the United Nations (UN); and the AU (South Africa, 2008).

The 8th Ordinary Summit of the AU, which was held in January 2007, saw the adoption of a declaration ushering in the 2010 World Cup as an African event. The declaration required that the AU member states commit themselves to providing all-round support to the government and people of South Africa in their efforts to organise the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Member states were further urged in the declaration to develop national legacy programmes and to work closely with the AU commission in implementing the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ ALP (South African Tourism, 2007). The responsibility for the implementation of the ALP was shared among the different African countries, including South Africa (South Africa, 2008).

Certain opportunity areas existed for individual African states to intervene at country-level to reap the fruits of the hosting of the World Cup in Africa. The areas included the branding and marketing of the country; tourism development and promotion;

football development, especially in terms of infrastructure, national leagues and teams; social and economic development; the taking of initiative in the hosting of international conferences and sport events; and the promotion and development of the culture and heritage (South African Tourism, 2007).

The South African government, together with other African countries, worked on a number of projects that would help attain the African legacy, including the following:

Peace and nation building: The initiative would support continental efforts aimed at promoting peace, nation building and democratisation. An example of a project for achieving such aims was that of „Silencing the Guns!‟ which sought to facilitate the replacement of guns with radios, thus enabling a common focus throughout the continent. The 30-day coverage of the World Cup would create an opportunity to silence the guns on the African continent, while those throughout the whole continent, including even those in conflict-ridden areas, would be watching the World Cup.

Football support and development: The project would look at improving the football infrastructure and facilities, as well as at improving and strengthening African football administration and governance. It would further seek to develop the African football industry, while celebrating, preserving and recording African football history, achievement and heritage.

Environment and tourism: The South African initiative to entrench the sustainability of the 2010 games was named „The Greening of the 2010‟. The programme focused on waste management, water and energy savings; the sustainability of stadia maintenance and transport; and carbon savings, with the funds raised to support the ALP; and environmental awareness campaigns. The games were to be used to raise the level of environmental awareness. In the area of tourism, in August 2006 SADC heads of state decided that visa exemptions should be abolished amongst member states to increase intra-SADC tourism growth.

Culture and heritage: The initiative was implemented with the full and active participation of the key stakeholders in the area of arts and culture, including traditional rulers, who would seek to train young translators from across the continent in different languages. In addition, young curators on the continent in the field of arts, culture and heritage were to be trained. A museum of contemporary African arts was also to be established, an African football hero publication series created, and a pan-African arts, craft and music festival organised.

Communication: The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ would present a unique communication opportunity for African communicators to promote African solidarity and development and to expand on opportunities, to market the continent, and to improve international perceptions. Africans could also tell their stories of the continent during that time. Communication objectives would require collaborative efforts from communicators across the many communication and creative disciplines.

Information and communication technology: The 2010 FIFA World Cup™

would afford an opportunity for Africans generally to gain access to information in various forms during and after the event, thus contributing to bridging the digital divide.

Continental security cooperation: The event would allow the creation of a legacy characterised by enhanced cooperation amongst countries to address any security threats posed to the continent, such as terrorism, the cross-border smuggling of illegal substances, and human trafficking. The legacy spin-offs identified included the establishment of a mechanism for joint command. The joint training of members of the security services would, in future, be used to combat crime and other security risks. A security

framework could be used as a blueprint for future events to be hosted on the continent, and a joint plan developed for the event could be used for coping with any possible future disaster on the continent (South Africa, 2007).

The ALP would also serve as a vehicle to ensure that the required preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ took place and that the event itself was truly an African experience (South Africa, 2007). However, the programme would have to be owned continent-wide in line with the spirit of the decision of the July 2004 AU summit (South Africa, 2007). Creating a positive and lasting legacy required a deliberate effort, strong leadership, and sustained commitment and attention (South African Tourism, 2007). A positive legacy would affect the lives of the host residents in a positive manner, which would, in turn, motivate residents either to support or to oppose other future events. With the ALP having been described as set out to benefit the entire African continent as a whole, the following section of the thesis details the residents‟ perceptions of such mega-events.