Im Vorlauf des World Cups 2010 in Südafrika schreibt die in London lebende Soziologin Dr. Natascha Müller-Hirth für Munitionen über Johannesburg, Hoffnungen und Versprechungen, die WM des Protests, den südafrikanischen Staatspräsidenten Jacob Zuma und weitere Ein- und Ausblicke im Land des WM-Gastgebers. Natascha Müller-Hirth hat in Südafrika gelebt und gearbeitet und vor allem Johannesburg hat einen speziellen Platz in ihrem Herzen eingenommen. Nicht wegen der Schönheit der Stadt (denn sie ist es nicht), sondern ihrer atemberaubenden Schnellebigkeit. In ihrer akademischen Arbeit beschäftigt sie sich mit südafrikanischer Politik nach dem demokratischen Übergang. Normalerweise meidet sie Fußball, doch bei dieser WM unterstützt sie - natürlich - die “Bafana Bafana”. Und bringt uns in vier Artikeln ihr Südafrika näher.

Mega sporting events such as the World Cup or the Olympic Games are often associated with giving a boost to a country’s economy, offering employment opportunities and increased tourism and leaving a legacy of improved infrastructure and fantastic sporting venues. The claims made on behalf of the 2010 World Cup, hosted by South Africa, are no different.

But there are other hopes resting on this particular event that are less universal. These include how the event has been invested with promises for development for South Africa and the wider Southern African region; the symbolism that is attached to hosting the World Cup in Africa for the first time; even the supposed potential of the beautiful game to contribute to peace. When South Africa won the World Cup bid, then-President of the Republic Thabo Mbeki argued that the opportunities afforded by the tournament would have a huge impact not just on South Africa but on the African continent as a whole, sending ‘ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo’. The Cup would give momentum to the ‘African Renaissance’, showing the world that South Africa (and Africa by extension) was able to host an event of this scale, and to host it well, with a uniquely ‘African feel’.

As for countering the kind of afro-pessimism usually perpetuated by the rest of the world, the tournament may well deliver on its promises – stadiums will be finished, the games will be taking place. The hopes for economic growth were always questionable, but even if framing growth in terms of a short term stimulus of the economy, the situation does not look so rosy: there will be at least 100,000 less tourists than predicted, for example. But it has become quite apparent in the run up to 11 June that a distinctly South African character, or ‘African feel’, may not be how this World Cup will be remembered.

Evictions of hawkers, Displacement of communities
Hawkers and food vendors which are usually operating outside football matches and other sporting events in South Africa have largely been excluded from the FIFA-controlled fan zones outside the stadiums, due to the exorbitant cost of leasing a stall. Outside Soccer City, the stadium in Soweto that will host the final, informal traders were evicted from outside the venue just last month – after having in some cases traded there for over a decade.

Removals of traders are not the only evictions that have taken place in preparation for kick-off this month: mass evictions of communities have occurred in Cape Town, Durban and elsewhere for years, forcibly moving residents from settlements near stadia or prominent tourist areas to new locations that are remote – and out of sight. The new settlements are far from residents’ schools and amenities, living conditions are worse and unemployment and crime are on the rise. The latest evictions have taken place near Cape Town’s Athlone stadium which will function as a training venue. The municipal authorities maintain that the evictions are unconnected to the World Cup. Ironically, townships played a huge role in the Anti-Apartheid struggle. Today they very much represent what Mbeki would have called the ‘second economy’. Their visibility and continued existence is a constant reminder of South Africa’s huge inequalities, they are ‘the eyesore that prevents the South African cities from becoming “world class”’, as Nigel Gibson writes. Fittingly, the Sowetan newspaper reported this week that the City of Cape Town was accused of planning to erect a wall around a derelict building by Athlone stadium whose residents it failed to evict.

Stadiums and Basic Services
Several existing stadia were rejected by the FIFA as suitable venues although refurbishment could have saved South Africa several billions of Rand. The above-mentioned Athlone stadium in the Cape Flats, a historically poor neighbourhood that is associated with Apartheid resettlement policies, for instance was rejected in favour of building Green Point stadium at a cost of an additional R2.5 billion (the stadium itself cost R4.4 billion - 486 million Euro). Somewhat ironically, it is dubbed the African Renaissance Stadium. With a backdrop of Table Mountain and close to locations such as the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, it is easy to see its attraction to visitors and FIFA officials. What is more, Ashwin Desai quotes one FIFA functionary as saying that football fans did not want to be faced with the poverty of the shantytowns on their television screens.

Examples of the Government spending vast sums on building new stadiums, where perfectly usable ones exist in every major city in the country, unfortunately abound. Other instances of ‘white elephant’ infrastructure spending, serving only a tiny elite minority, include the Gautrain railway project (linking Jo’burg and Pretoria but not serving any of the townships in Gauteng Province) and the new Durban airport. Meanwhile, millions of South Africans still have no access to affordable housing, clean water and sanitation. Financing has been taken from public funds destined for basic service delivery – 90,000 houses could have been built every year in the past 5 years from the funds for stadiums, according to the economist Stephen Gelb. There has been a continuous wave of strikes and protests (as well as of police violence against protesters) since last year and protests will in all likelihood intensify during the World Cup. The Government and municipal authorities have announced that there will be 10 km safety cordons around stadiums in order to prevent service delivery protests.

The World Cup of Protest
Police crackdown on community protests is nothing new in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Even outside the context of the World Cup preparations South Africa has more protest actions than anywhere else in the world. These actions primarily arise out of a need to confront the extreme poverty and material inequality and communities’ marginalisation in relation to service delivery. Given that South Africa is governed by an overwhelming one party majority with weak opposition parties, social and community movements not only represent marginalised communities but also operate as a watchdog to the ANC. The Mbeki administration had made considerable efforts to downplay these actions; its lashing out at protesters (both in terms of violent repression and rhetorical marginalisation) tended to be coupled with invocations of the nation and the national democratic revolution that was supposedly being betrayed by those protesting. The banning of gatherings and repression of movements from about 2002 onwards sparked new struggles and increasing support for existing movements.

Far from slowing down after Zuma became president (after all, with the support of at least some of the organised political left), there has been a continuous wave of strikes and service delivery protests since last May. The most visible example for the crack down on community action has been in the mob attacks against residents affiliated with the shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo in the Kennedy Road township in Durban in September 2009. Homes were damaged and individuals and families were displaced or forced to flee, with at last two deaths confirmed. The Zuma Government has ignored Abahlali base¬Mjondolo’s calls for an independent commission of inquiry into the attacks, which are alleged to have occurred with the knowledge of the police and the ANC.

Abahlali and many other social and community organisations have called for protests during the World Cup, with the shackdwellers’ organisation announcing they would set up shacks outside the Green Point stadium to show the world the squalor in which they live and that the World Cup has not improved their lives. Their deputy chairperson Mthobeli Zona is quoted in the Sowetan as saying: ‘We know the government will send the police to beat us in front of the media and the whole world will know about our struggles’. Television viewers might be faced with a glimpse of the reality of many ordinary South Africans after all.