Last week millions of Africans sat in front of TVs watching the opening ceremony of the World cup in South Africa. Many of us thought we would never see this global event take place on our continent in our life time but thanks to the FIFA policy of rotation this become a possibility. I must say South Africa has done us proud! Many people thought the facilities will not be ready and I am told FIFA had a plan to move the event to the USA just in case the “Africans failed to deliver the event”.
BUT (there is always one) as I sat down listening to the constant noise from the Vuvuzelas I could not stop thinking about the cost of the putting up such a spectacle. A quick search on Google revealed costs between $2.5 and $4 Billion. The South African Government had projected that the World cup will have a gross impact of about $12 Billion with approximately 600 000 jobs being created by the tournament. However the number of World cup tourists has been hit by the recession and it is doubtful if the projected financial benefits will be realised.
So what is the benefit of spending huge public funds on an event that may not bring about positive financial returns? Lets be clear that South Africa does not have a savings account with $5 Billion waiting to be spent on the a major event. SA like many other African countries has some of its citizens living below the poverty datum line with no access to clean water, housing, education and health. So why spend this amount on an event that will last for a month when there are more pressing social/economic issues? I do not have an answer! However the answer could lie in what is known as “the feel good factor”. Same reason the UK government spent millions on the Millennium Dome when they knew very well that it did not make financial sense or the city of Montreal facing financial ruin after the 1976 Olympic games. So what is this “feel good factor”? The MacMillan dictionary defines it as “the feeling that people have when things such as the economy are going well”. I guess politicians hope that the feel good factor will ignite the economy and stir people into identifying opportunities. Unfortunately past experience does not seem to support this.
So it seems like we just have to sit back and enjoy the games while listening to the ever present Vuvuzelas. Forget about the cost and legacy. Enjoy a pint of Castle while at it!
The PANEL.
BUT (there is always one) as I sat down listening to the constant noise from the Vuvuzelas I could not stop thinking about the cost of the putting up such a spectacle. A quick search on Google revealed costs between $2.5 and $4 Billion. The South African Government had projected that the World cup will have a gross impact of about $12 Billion with approximately 600 000 jobs being created by the tournament. However the number of World cup tourists has been hit by the recession and it is doubtful if the projected financial benefits will be realised.
So what is the benefit of spending huge public funds on an event that may not bring about positive financial returns? Lets be clear that South Africa does not have a savings account with $5 Billion waiting to be spent on the a major event. SA like many other African countries has some of its citizens living below the poverty datum line with no access to clean water, housing, education and health. So why spend this amount on an event that will last for a month when there are more pressing social/economic issues? I do not have an answer! However the answer could lie in what is known as “the feel good factor”. Same reason the UK government spent millions on the Millennium Dome when they knew very well that it did not make financial sense or the city of Montreal facing financial ruin after the 1976 Olympic games. So what is this “feel good factor”? The MacMillan dictionary defines it as “the feeling that people have when things such as the economy are going well”. I guess politicians hope that the feel good factor will ignite the economy and stir people into identifying opportunities. Unfortunately past experience does not seem to support this.
So it seems like we just have to sit back and enjoy the games while listening to the ever present Vuvuzelas. Forget about the cost and legacy. Enjoy a pint of Castle while at it!
The PANEL.
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