South Africa: A Brief Introduction

By MinHwan Kim

Chile 2 : 1 Brazil

Côte d'Ivoire 2 : 3 South Africa

No, they are not scores; they are the numbers of capital cities each country has, and South Africa has more than any other in the world.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ll know the 2010 World Cup will be held in South Africa. It is the very first time that the international tournament will be hosted on the African continent. Even though South Africa may not attract as many visitors as the World Cups in Germany or Korea & Japan, it may interest you to take a look at some facts about the nation.

Known officially as the Republic of South Africa, it is at the southern tip of the continent. Pretoria is the administrative capital, Bloemfontein, the judicial capital, and Cape Town, the legislative capital. Bad boy Jacob Zuma makes other Presidents look boring. He has criminal charges attached to his name, including corruption and rape.South Africans are made up of approximately 80% black, 9% white, 9% mixed-race and 2% Asians.

The climate is the most crucial factor in the games. South Africa has a generally temperate climate, due to being surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.In early June, the temperature of Johannesburg in the morning is between 6 and 7°C, and during the daytime, it fluctuates around 20°C

Since the start of the first World Cup in 1930, there have been huge economic effects on the host countries. Therefore, it would be valuable to refer to the impact that this event is having on South Africa.

As South Africa prepares to host the World Cup, the government has poured money into complementing infrastructure and improving security. Although most people are optimistic, there are two differing views on the effect of the World Cup in South Africa.

Optimistic people say the World Cup is a significant event to make South Africa being an advanced country. They believe it will create new 695,000 jobs and give gross $1.3billion(Canadian) to South African economy. It's a really huge figure, comparing to the last data about economic effects of the World Cup games. However, they say it is possible due to the 400,000 tourists each will be spending $4,000(Canadian) on average during the World cup period. Furthermore, the improved security will help prevent crime, reducing the notorious crime rate.

On the other hand, opposers concern about these wonderful predictions. South Africa is still suffering from serious disparity between the rich and the poor. And the cost of infrastructure and other improvement projects would unavoidably increase while they are pouring the money at there. As a result, it will make the poorest people poorer and the richest richer. Ironically, even though World cup ticket sales have hit 97%, domestic demend has been reduced because households felt the pinch1).

1) feel the pinch : be under pressure because they do not have as much money as you had before.