'South Africans left with white elephants' - Stadiums

kilos

kilos

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ALSO Interesting 250 page document about the following regarding
http://bit.ly/fifa2010-ZA
  • Soccer City: What it says about the murky world of government tenders
  • Tendering irregularities in the Eastern Cape
  • How FIFA corruption empowers global capital
  • FIFA’s ‘official’ suppliers: Shadowy tenders and conficts of interest at Match
  • Costs of the stadium to the public and similar corruptions charges in other FIFA held
  • Public loss, FIFA’s gain: How Cape Town got its ‘white elephant’
  • Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium: Arch of hope or yoke of debt?
Source: IOL
The World Cup has brought Port Elizabeth a stunning new landmark in its oceanside stadium, but questions remain about who will fill the stands once the global football fans leave.

"In the South African case, all the stadiams were either renovated or constructed by the government. That means that the commercial consideration was never primary," said economist Stan du Plessis of Stellenbosch University.

"Some of these stadiums are simply not going to be in a position to cover their running costs. In that sense, they will be loss making."

South Africa has poured R20-billion, multiples of the original estimates, into 10 stadiums in nine cities to showcase Africa's first World Cup.
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But according to Du Plessis, only Durban and Johannesburg's Soccer City have promising chances. Though he stops short at dishing out whites elephant labels.

"These stadiums are actually built for something very specific. They will host a great World Cup. So in that respect they are not a white elephant," he said.
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As for the rest we appear to be rehashing the views of Andrew Jennings again.
 
Anyone still moaning about the world cup needs to get a clue and get the carrot out of their bum. Almost everyone I know is extremely excited now and positive about it. And some of those people are not exactly what you'd call typical optimists. I'll take serious glee imagining the misery a successful world cup is going to bring so many of you on this forum.
 
The only reason for optimism in case this is all true: Whatever the facts, nothing can change it. So better make the best of it, being all sucky about it aint gonna help anyone.
 
JohnGalt said:
Anyone still moaning about the world cup needs to get a clue and get the carrot out of their bum. Almost everyone I know is extremely excited now and positive about it. And some of those people are not exactly what you'd call typical optimists. I'll take serious glee imagining the misery a successful world cup is going to bring so many of you on this forum.
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then why are many of the flights out of South Africa just prior to the world cup booked up?
 
1) Whilst the smaller cities may have trouble making their stadiums viable, the larger cities will not. "According to Du Plessis, only Durban and Johannesburg's Soccer City have promising chances." <- that is the biggest load of rubbish ever. Cape Town Stadium has Stade de France managing it, who happened to be the operators of one of the world's most successful stadiums. Why on earth would they bid to operate the stadium if it won't be financially viable?
2) As the smaller cities continue to grow, so will the viability of their stadiums.
3) Get over it already. They stadiums are built. Moaning about it isn't going to help at all, and anyone hopping on the moaning bandwagon now is just rehashing what the negative few have been harping on about all along. So not only is it a pointless argument, but it's an unoriginal one too. Why even bother?
4) I know people who are not even Christian yet went to the Christian prayer event at Cape Town Stadium just to see the stadium. There is huge excitement surround it. I smirk at the fact that various residents living around the stadium strongly opposed it a few years back, but now they're happily reaping the rewards of not only a beautiful stadium and urban park surrounding it, but increased property values due to the absence of a disgusting delapidated stadium and unkept facilities surrounding it.

Basically, in summary, the minority are always the most vocal.
 
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alloytoo said:
then why are many of the flights out of South Africa just prior to the world cup booked up?
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Please tell me you're trying to be funny, because that is honestly one of the absolute stupidest arguments I've ever heard regarding measuring world cup excitement :wtf:
 
Lydon said:
I smirk at the fact that various residents living around the stadium strongly opposed it a few years back, but now they're happily reaping the rewards of not only a beautiful stadium and urban park surrounding it, but increased property values due to the absence of a disgusting delapidated stadium and unkept facilities surrounding it.
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The disgusting dilapidated stadium and unkempt facilities were once sparkling new as well so basically youre saying that they couldnt keep the old one in a state of repair but they will the new one?
 
Lydon said:
Please tell me you're trying to be funny, because that is honestly one of the absolute stupidest arguments I've ever heard regarding measuring world cup excitement :wtf:
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Well to belabour an obvious point:

Some people are NOT excited, and have chosen to travel abroad to avoid the irritation and inconvienience during this time.
 
Freshy-ZN said:
The disgusting dilapidated stadium and unkempt facilities were once sparkling new as well so basically youre saying that they couldnt keep the old one in a state of repair but they will the new one?
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Traditonally Soccer Stadiums are not huge money spinners in SA.
 
Lydon said:
Please tell me you're trying to be funny, because that is honestly one of the absolute stupidest arguments I've ever heard regarding measuring world cup excitement :wtf:
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+1

Lots of business trips etc. people moved their trips earlier to be able to get flights. During the world cup most flights leaving SA is fully booked.
 
I will not speak about some other stadiums, but Port Elizabeth desperately needed a new stadium, regardless of the SWC. The Boet is way past it's "sell by" date. At least now we have a stadium that can host not only sporting but also other cultural events, e.g. music concerts.
 
vangend said:
+1

Lots of business trips etc. people moved their trips earlier to be able to get flights. During the world cup most flights leaving SA is fully booked.
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I.t.o. business flights... they were booked early as it made business sense if you take into consideration the price hikes effective from this week. Business is about money, so if you can buy tickets at almost half the price, then you do it. SWC is a secondary factor.
 
Well, hopefully the SWC generates some long-term interest in the sport, generating some support for our local leagues. More people to watch more games... the stadiums might be used to capacity in the near future (if not capacity, at least to the point where they are sustainable). I think that's what the people in charge are hoping. More support for soccer means more money for our local teams, which they desperately need. The stadiums can only be good for SA soccer.

Personally, I'd love it if soccer generated more interest and money in this country. We have some great talent here that really does go to waste.
 
I travel extensively in rural areas, visiting rural schools, and I can tell you that without exception, the rural black is not impressed with the WC or the Stadia, that have siphoned money away from their feeding schemes and schools.

At school after school that I visited this week, I got the same story...how can we sit, without water and without a roof over many of our classrooms whilst the government spends billions on soccer.

To ignore the plight of the rural black is not only selfish, it's bloody short sighted.:mad:
 
So we should be optimistic and stop moaning while the government wastes billions of our money and gives it to organized crime in the form of FIFA? Just shut up and bend over?

No thanks, if its not good for the country its not good for the country. I'm sure the SWC will be a success but it wont generate enough revenue to cover the cost of construction, leaving us with our caps in our hands again.
 
Having seen the turn out for a cup final for two small teams at the biggest stadium built for the SWC, IMO, Soccer City in particular wont have any issues making money.

I cant wait for the first Telkom Charity Cup there! AND the first Soweto derby there! Going to be awesome!
 
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