TELESPHORE
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2006
- Messages
- 869
Johannesburg - The new US ambassador to South Africa said in an interview published on Sunday that few would travel to the 2010 World Cup in the country if crime continued at current levels.
South Africa is battling some of the highest rates of murder and rape in the world and opposition groups and the media have accused the government of failing to curb crime.
"I look at things somewhat simplistically on occasion and the issue for me is this: who is going to be interested in spending a significant amount of money coming here on holiday, to have a good time, when you're concerned about the possibility of getting hurt?," ambassador Eric Bost told the Sunday Times.
Bost, a black Republican, warned that crime was the first concern of nearly every ambassador he had met in South Africa, and of the US investor community.
South Africa is battling some of the highest rates of murder and rape in the world and opposition groups and the media have accused the government of failing to curb crime.
"I look at things somewhat simplistically on occasion and the issue for me is this: who is going to be interested in spending a significant amount of money coming here on holiday, to have a good time, when you're concerned about the possibility of getting hurt?," ambassador Eric Bost told the Sunday Times.
Bost, a black Republican, warned that crime was the first concern of nearly every ambassador he had met in South Africa, and of the US investor community.