South Africa: Build up to the World Cup · Global Voices
Muhammad Karim

With 20 days left to the the greatest spectacle showcasing the “beautiful game” in South Africa, there has been a lot of preparation going on behind the scenes and a lot of talk in the South African blogosphere on various issues surrounding the World Cup. There is Official Government site covering the World Cup where all the “official” information and updates on what is being done to prepare for the World Cup can be found.
Still not sure what exactly the World Cup is and especially clueless on any information about the World Cup 2010?  The World Cup Blog has a great Beginners’ Guide to the World Cup which covers the basics very succinctly.
First up in the blogosphere, though, let's start with traffic situation. The Portfolio Travel Blog points out various road closures which will be taking place in Cape Town around the time of the World Cup:
The City of Cape Town has released the following road closure information for all in the Mother City during the World Cup.
“Traffic will be affected on match days in Cape Town during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ due to a number of necessary road closures. The City asks the public to be aware of these and to plan their routes and travel times accordingly.We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” said the City’s Director: Communication and 2010 Spokesperson, Pieter Cronje.
Public transport services have been extended as part of the City’s transport plan for the event.
“We encourage commuters to utilise these extended public transport services offered by the City,” said Peter Sole, Manager: 2010 Transport Operations.
All trains and certain train stations will have additional security for the duration of the World Cup. In addition, the use of non-motorised transport and car pooling is greatly encouraged.
You can get all the additional details on these road closures by visiting the full blog post. I hope the same is not the same for the other host cities. I'm sure this is a special case.
Keeping with the theme of transport,  The Mpumalanga Explorer highlights how the FIFA World Cup Official page is misrepresenting information about one particular town which will host a few World Cup Games, Nelspruit.
The Mpumalanga Province is regarded as one of the most tourist-friendly provinces in South Africa. Despite its close proximity to some neighbouring countries, such as Mozambique, the province is also less than three hours drive from Johannesburg and some four hours from Polokwane” Fair enough all this is factual. I am guessing that at some point along the border of Mpumalanga you could get to Polokwane in four hours, but the facts are that it would take another 2 hours from there to Nelspruit. The FIFA World Cup™ tournament games are being held in Mpumalanga, but more specifically Nelspruit which is approximately 360 km's from Johannesburg, which distance can be covered in 3 hours with no stops and no other traffic if the rules of the road are adhered to. Polokwane is another couple of hours from Johannesburg going north.
Aside from the world-acclaimed Kruger National Park which is the main tourist destination in Mpumalanga Province, very little is known about this province and its surroundings.” What utter claptrap. Mpumalanga is known for more than just the Kruger Park. Making it sound like Mpumalanga is largely unexplored and wild is foolish. The roads in Mpumalanga, specifically in the Lowveld are largely tarred. We have many tourists visiting the smaller towns like Graskop, Hazyview Sabie and Barberton because of the attractions they offer. These towns are not unknown as much as FIFA wish to claim that.
The blog does go into other inaccurate information on the FIFA World Cup page. It seems FIFA's not done it's homework on this one.
Some great news now for World Cup Ticket Holders from Capeinfo blogs…there is free Metrorail for World Cup ticket holders:
Metrorail will transport match ticket holders of the 2010 FIFA World Cup free of charge on its special dedicated trains to host stadiums.
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) will run special commuter services through its Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl intercity services during the tournament.
This is an additional special train service over and above the normal services provided, and will be synchronised according to match schedules.
Additional rail services will be scheduled to cope with the demand as government has promised that by 2010 there will be a train available every five minutes during peak times. Train services will be running between 14 and 16 hours every day.
Metrorail Gauteng Region will service a total of 12 routes namely Soccer City with 14 train sets, Coca-Cola Park with 13 train sets and Loftus Versfeld with 14 more trains.
The short routes include Pretoria to Rissik station, Johannesburg to Nasrec station, Westgate to Nasrec station as well as Westgate to Doornfontein station.
All stations will start operating from 5am to 10pm on match days while for late games, stations will operate until midnight.
Each soccer train will be staffed with a team of ten ticket officers, both to and from venue stations. One inspector or supervisor will be deployed on each soccer train.
Shosholoza Meyl, with an active coach fleet of 1 223, already runs on 19 scheduled routes stopping at 95 stations, while Metrorail services 468 stations in Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban and the Eastern Cape.
Regional and cross-border train services have been revised to coincide with matches in the various host cities, this includes the scheduling of dedicated trains to matches and from outside the Gauteng region.
Passengers will be able to choose between the various products such as the Tourist Class Train Service, Economy Train Service and Premier Class.
The train services will run from Musina in Limpopo, Komatipoort, Rustenburg, Durban, Bloemfontein and Cape Town. Passengers will then connect to Metrorail trains to take them to their respective games.
Great news for World Cup enthusiasts wondering how they will be able to attend matches in different cities.
VOANews blog has a post giving a high five to the South Africa World Cup 2010 official Mascot, Zakumi.
World Cup mascots usually show a characteristic feature of the host country.  One of my objectives during my first trip to South Africa in June is to give a high-five to Zakumi, the official mascot of the 2010 World Cup.
Zakumi is a leopard, a common animal found in South Africa, and his green and gold colors represent the national colors of South Africa’s national sports teams. A high-five for you, Zakumi!
Green Point Stadium and Capetown Daily Photo's gives us a great picture of the New Green Point Stadium taken from the old one:
Covering some humorous content around the World Cup, Dizzy Dee blogs about a US broadcast which actually confused which continent the World cup will be held on:
Note the photo in the article above shows South America, while the heading over the image reads “South Africa“. Seems like there is some confusion in the US as to which continent exactly hosts the Soccer World Cup during 2010.
Kameraad Mhambi blogs about a Netherlands based group called De Zoltans, which sings a song “Zuid-Afrika” based on the tune of YMCA and is all about the World Cup, absolutely hilarious:
A friend Lizelle living in the Netherlands sent me this. A song called Zuid-Afrika about the Football World Cup.
Moenie my glo as ek sê die Hollanders is sokkerbefok nie. Check maar gewoon hier.
Not quite Die Antwoord. The Dutchies are one of the teams with a chance of lifting the cup.
Just for your information, Die Antwoord are a white South African Based Hip-Hop group which has gained tremendous popularity with their music being spread solely over the internet.  They are available on Youtube.
Bringing it all back on a more sombre note, Medialternatives blogs about Fifa, Racism and the World Cup.
FIFA continues to fund apartheid-era companies in South Africa. DSTV SUPERSPORT for example has rights to broadcast live coverage of the World Cup event in High Definition, but its holding company Sanlam/Naspers remains engaged in a lengthy labour dispute involving racism and discrimination in which gross failures in the coverage of issues affecting previously disadvantaged communities have come to light.
SuperSport channels “will provide spectators with full coverage of the World Cup event”. A DSTV official has stated: “there will be a 24-hour coverage and we will be bringing the games on High Definition (HD).” Yet millions without the luxury of HD languish in poverty caused as a result of FIFA partners.
Racism, whether in low or high definition is still racism, and apartheid however misconstrued via Satellite or Cable TV is still apartheid. FIFA should not allow its brand to be associated with a company which failed to make a submission to the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
In the final report Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu questioned the sincerity of  Afrikaner-dominated  media houses such as Media24: “Is silence from that quarter to be construed as consent, conceding that it was a sycophantic handmaiden of the apartheid government?”
In the commissions findings Naspers/Media24/MNET were condemned for their complicity in the apartheid system: ‘[Naspers] chose to provide direct support for apartheid and the activities of the security forces — many of which led directly to gross human rights violations.”
It's an interesting viewpoint and one that isn't much covered in the blogosphere, let alone mainstream media.
An element of hope is stirred by kameraad mhambi again in a blog post on two rugby teams (one being known as the most ‘afrikaner’ team) who, because of the World Cup, will be playing their match in Soweto of all places…
This weekend, due to the Football World Cup, history will be made when the Blue Bulls play the Crusaders in the Super 14 Rugby tournament in Soweto.
The Bulls, from Pretoria, traditionally are seen as the most Afrikaner off all South Africa Rugby Unions. The game will be an opportunity to smash or reinforce some stereo types.
Ending off on a very inspirational note, especially when it comes to motivating the teams themselves, Hyundai have had a competition coming up with Team slogans for each country which has qualified for the World Cup.  Below are their results…
Algerie – Star and crescent with one goal: Victory!
Argentina – Última parada, la gloria – Last stop: Glory
Australia – Dare to Dream, Advance Australia
Brazil – Lotado! O Brasil inteiro está aqui dentro! – The whole of Brazil is in here!
Cameroon – Les lions indomptables sont de retour – The Indomitable Lions are back
Chile – Roja la sangre de mi corazón, Chile campeón – Red is the blood of my heart, Chile will be Champion
Cote D Ivoire – Eléphants, battons nous pour la victoire! – Elephants, let's fight for victory!
Denmark – Det eneste der kræves, er et dansk hold og en drøm – All you need is a Danish team and a dream
England – Playing with Pride and Glory
France – Tous ensemble vers un nouveau rêve bleu – All together for a new dream in blue
Germany – Auf dem Weg zum Cup! – On the road to get the Cup!
Ghana – The hope of Africa
Greece – Η Ελλάδα είναι παντού! – Greece is everywhere!
Honduras -Un país, una pasión, ¡5 estrellas en el corazón! – One Country, One passion, 5 Stars in the heart
Italy – Il nostro Azzurro nel cielo d'Africa – Italian Azzurro on African sky
Japan – 侍魂はくじけない！日本勝利！ – The Samurai spirit never dies! Victory for Japan!
Korea DRP – 또다시 1966년처럼,  조선아 이겨라 ! – 1966 again! Victory for DPR of Korea!
Mexico – ¡Es tiempo de un nuevo campeón! – It is time for a new champion!
Netherlands – Let niet op de grote 5, maar pas op voor de oranje 11 – Don't fear the big five, fear the Orange eleven
New Zealand – Kickin’ it Kiwi style
Nigeria – Super Eagles super fan united we stand
Paraguay – El león Guaraní ruge en Sudáfrica – The Guarani lion roars in South Africa!
Portugal – Um sonho, uma ambição…Portugal campeão! – One dream, one purpose… Portugal victorious!
Republic of Korea – 승리의 함성, 하나된 한국 – The Shouts of Reds, United Republic of Korea
Serbia – Igramo srcem, vodimo osmehom!  – Play with the heart, lead with a smile!
Slovakia – Rozbehnime to: Slovensko do toho! – Shake the green field: Go Slovakia!
Slovenia – Z enajstimi pogumnimi srci do konca – With eleven brave hearts to the end
South Africa – One nation, proudly united under one rainbow
Spain – Ilusión es mi camino, Victoria mi destino – Hope is my road, victory my destiny
Switzerland – Hopp Schwiiz! – “Hop Suisse!” – “Forza Svizzera!” – “C'mon Switzerland!”
Uruguay – El sol brilla sobre nosotros. ¡Vamos Uruguay! – The sun shines upon us. Go Uruguay!
USA – Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Victory!
All in all the country and the world are excited about the upcoming World Cup. There will be a few hiccups I'm sure, but overall it all seems to point to a hopeful and colourful World Cup 2010.