World Cup Woe!

In 2004 when South Africa landed the 2010 World Cup, it estimated that costs would be around $300 million. Today, the organizing committee reports it is going to cost $1.5 billion to host a one month long football competition. That is merely five times the original estimate!

South Africa, a poor country by anyone’s standards is spending quite a bit of money building new stadiums, a questionable move considering how these stadiums end up largely redundant when all the fans go home.

Despite being Africa's superpower (having the continent's biggest economy, strong financial and manufacturing sectors, rich mineral resources and a strong tourist industry) many South Africans remain poor and unemployment is high.

The redistribution of land from white colonists back to the indigenous population is slow - most farmland is still white-owned. The government is committed to transferring 30% of farmland to black South Africans by 2014.

South Africa has the second-highest number of HIV/Aids patients in the world. Around one in seven of its citizens is infected with HIV.

Whilst some will argue that the World Cup will do much to boost the economy will these benefits ever filter down to those in the shanty towns? The country gets richer and the gulf between rich and poor seems to increase proportionately.

Maybe Salvationists should boycott the world cup and thereby draw the world’s attention to AIDS and poverty?

Love and prayers