Category: world cup 2010

Fly the flag – could do better

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The Fly the Flag campaign is another event to mark an important day in the countdown towards the World Cup.

There are just 100 days to go before the tournament starts on June 11th and South African Tourism is asking people to get excited about it. And why not? Although, I do have a problem with enforced enthusiasm: the MC-generated Mexican Wave at the Cape Town rugby festival being a case in point. And the fact that schools in SA practice their cheering in the week leading up to a big Saturday rugby match.
Rugby again. Hmm.

Anyway, I think this is a nice idea and I wanted to support it with a post on here a couple of weeks back. But South African Tourism hadn’t got things together and there was nothing on the website address that their radio ads were punting. In fact their 2010 site still doesn’t have a link to the FTF page, a whole day before things kick off, so to speak. But then, maybe that’s a good thing, because the FTF page has all the hallmarks of a rush job:

Mark 100 days to the biggest kickoff on African soil.  Support National Fly The Flag Day on March the 2nd. Put everything on hold at midday. Wear you Bafana jerseys and gather around in public places to sing the National Anthem and wave your Mzansi flag.

The 2nd of March will mark 100 days before the much-awaited 2010 FIFA World Cup officially kicks off.  Come midday on March the 2nd, let’s all down tools for a moment, gather at public places in our Bafana colours to sing the National Anthem and fly the Mzansi flag high in celebration of National Fly The Flag Day.

When the clock strikes midday on March the 2nd, it’s time for National Fly The Flag Day. Drop everything you’re doing, gather around at public places in your Bafana jerseys. Sing the National Anthem and wave your Mzansi flags to mark 100 days to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

That’s 4 March the 2nd’s, 3 Mzanzi flag’s and 3 gather around in public places‘s in 9 sentences. And not much else.

What could have been a great celebration is only now beginning to catch on and frankly it’s no surprise, when even the organisers’ organisation looks pretty rubbish.

Still, I’ll be there making the effort with suitable attire and with my (English) flag flying on the car.

After months of negativity

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As I sit here by the braai, with a locally-brewed wife and beer by my side, I am filled with hope, positivity and optimism about the future here in SA. And, for once, it seems I’m not the only one.

After a wholly-unsolicited ‘I’m going out of my way to tell your viewers this’ quote “Let me tell you, South Africa is going to be ready and it’s going to be a great World Cup” from a Daily Express football writer (recently returned from these parts) on Sky Sports yesterday, Piers Edwards of the BBC has come out with a brilliant blog telling the world the other side of all the negative BS and hightlighting the double standards of the international press:

When I asked the Australian delegation if they had any security concerns, they almost laughed in my face. Thankfully, they politely grinned instead while explaining how their sports stars have been coming here for years without any problems.
Indeed, their cricketers came over for last year’s IPL and Champions Trophy and there was great irony in both tournaments’ relocation to South Africa after security concerns in their original host nations – India and Pakistan (and wasn’t it strange how South Africa’s crime issues were ignored when the IPL changed venue?).

And it is, of course, the media that drives and fuels the negativity.
Why?  I’m not sure. Perhaps they’ve just lost the ability to actually write anything positive anymore. Maybe no-one would believe it.

While English-led questions about Bafokeng dominated Fifa’s news conference on Tuesday, it was interesting that not one Brazilian journalist, and there were a few there, asked about the five-time champions’ hotel – whose completion date is as late as England’s. In fact, the endless focus on Bafokeng drove Fifa’s urbane General Secretary spare.
“If the question is ‘could we host the World Cup tomorrow?’, the answer is ‘no’,” Jerome Valcke snapped. “Soccer City isn’t ready [and] we have 700,000 tickets still to sell, but we will be ready.”

Valcke is right. SA is not ready to host the World Cup. But that’s actually just fine, because the World Cup doesn’t start until June 11th and right now, we’re still in February. If the World Cup were to start tomorrow, we’d have failed. But it doesn’t, so we haven’t.
And positive quotes from big names like Marcello Lippi:

“I’m expecting a great tournament, in fantastic stadiums, with perfect security,” says Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning coach, who was here for last year’s Confederations Cup. “I’m not expecting anything negative.”

and Germany coach Joachim Low:

“I see the happiness in the locals’ eyes and their sense of excitement,” he said. “They can’t wait for the World Cup and South Africa will do everything for this World Cup – that’s what I am feeling.”

being reported are a welcome change from the usual doom and gloom that has surrounded the build up to this tournament.

But even as I read the comments below the post (and they’re worth a read), there were those in there who are still stubbornly waiting and hoping that South Africa will fail, still spreading their misinformation (CAPADONNA is a good case in point – WTF is he talking about??) and striving to pollute the excitement and belief around the World Cup. Piers has a message for them:

After 80 years of the World Cup, Africa – whether some Europeans like it or not – deserves its chance to host the finals: and had you decided against coming here because of the horror stories (rather than financial restrictions), when the media changes its tune from negativity to fawning praise as the World Cup begins, where would you rather be? 

I know my answer…

Helen talks mainly sense

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Grand Emperor of the Western Cape, Helen Zille has been talking up a storm after a police briefing on World Cup security. She warned of the dangers of sensationalist media and their attempts to stoke up negative sentiment about the country and the tournament.
Well said, Helen. We warned you about that over 3 months ago.

“There are a lot of journalists who want sensational stories in the run-up to the World Cup. Be very careful not to be caught off-guard with a sensational quote,” she said.
Zille said it was important not to “pump up” international fears, and mentioned the recent attack on the Togolese football team during the Confederations Cup in Angola as an example of how perceptions could go wrong.
“They don’t differentiate between countries,” she said, adding that she herself had been on the receiving end of journalists “trying to squeeze alarming statements” out of her.

While this is obviously of concern, those journalists should have known better than to mess with Zille. Even when squeezed really tightly, all that comes out is rhetoric; stuff like “ANC”, “totally unacceptable”, “President Zuma” & “morally questionable” with the odd transitional phrase thrown in so it all makes sense.
To her, anyway. 

After savaging the media, she then turned her attention to the equally menacing vuvuzela.

“The vuvuzela is great fun until you sit and hear thousands,” she said.
“You need to warn people. You need to have earplugs on sale at the stadium.”

Seriaas, Helen?

“It is a serious point I am making, I am not being frivolous.”

Oh…  right.
Well, that’s nonsense.
One vuvuzela is annoying. Thousands of them honking together like an army of mad geese is just great.

Also, this gives the ANC a great indication as to how to disrupt the next DA rally that they want to disrupt. No – not the thousands of vuvuzelas thing, the opportunity to sell earplugs to people on the way in.
And then they could do the thousands of vuvuzelas thing just to annoy Helen.

Kortbroek goes probing

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News in this morning’s Cape Times that Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Kortbroek, South African Minister for Tourism has demanded a probe into allegations that some accommodation providers are hiking prices excessively for the World Cup.

“We have noted allegations that accommodation establishments in the tourism industry are not responsible, and are inflating prices excessively,” van Schalkwyk said.

Well done, Marthinus. The rest of us only noticed that fact a few months back. It’s good to see that you and your department have got your collective fingers so firmly on the pulse of what is going to be the biggest tourist event this country has ever seen.
My faith in the Government is restored. Unfortunately.

He said the survey would help safeguard the reputation of the tourism industry since South Africa is known as a “value-for-money destination”.
“Price-hiking could damage the reputation of our tourism industry. However, it must be kept in mind that June and July will be high season in South Africa, and tourists should not expect the normal low-season prices,” he said.

Absolutely correct, Minister. However, nor should tourists expect to pay mark-ups of over 300% as we recently noted at the Ashanti Backpackers Lodge in Gardens.

Grant Thornton has been commissioned to conduct the survey, which is expected to be completed in three weeks.

…leaving the Government with very limited time to do absolutely nothing about it. Meh.

This article prompted me to give Ashanti a call, just to see if they have any rooms left for the World Cup. I didn’t even have to fake a British accent, since I still have half of one of those.
“Plenty,” was the reply.

Goodness me. I wonder why?

Slug & Lettuce – Lunch

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The Slug & Lettuce in Green Point opened in December, but unless you are a regular at Ultra Liquors next door, you’d probably never know it. Somehow, I seem to have become aware of it. Hmm.

Of course, for all those Saffas who did their stint in the UK, most likely working out of somewhere with a SW postcode, “The Slug” was a favourite haunt. Now the idea has been exported back to South Africa, where presumably hordes of expat English will descend on the pub, get hideously drunk, be arrogant about their country’s sporting prowess and then dance topless on the bar.   

It was thankfully quiet when we popped in there for Valentine’s Day lunch. Mrs 6000 was immediately drawn to the S&L classic Snakebite & Black, while I settled for a draught Peroni (they also have Jack Black on tap). The pub itself is tiny, but the welcome was warm and the service excellent. The tapas menu looks interesting and I would highly, highly recommend the chili poppers, the mere mention of which is making my mouth water in front of the Winter Olympics highlights this evening.
We also tried the sweet potato crisps, which were great.

Mains were a superb cheeseburger and a standard, but enjoyable calamari. We probably would have stayed for dessert, but by this time, Mrs 6000’s third snakebite & black had gone to her head and we wandered down to Three Anchor Bay where I took advantage of her inebriation to comprehensively beat her at Putt-Putt.

The Slug will need to get a few more punters in if it is to survive. On a strip where there is a bar every few yards, some advertising wouldn’t go amiss. Apparently when there is an event on at the stadium, it is packed, but unless it manages to reproduce those numbers on other days, it will quickly fall by the wayside. And that would be a pity.
The trick will be keeping it open until June, when it’s sure to be a big hit with the visiting fans. I’ll certainly be making it my pre-match drinking haunt. Whether the match is in Cape Town or not.