Sunday night, 25 November 2007, the 2010 World Cup Preliminary Draw took place at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Durban, South Africa. The draw to determine the continental qualifying schedule for 2010, was televised live on 34 television channels worldwide. It was the first official Fifa event to be held in South Africa in the build-up to 2010.
Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, said that this is the kickoff, and now there is no doubt that this global event will be held in South Africa, and will be a big success. But will it?
Five new stadiums are in the process of being built, but have already suffered under strike action for bigger bonuses. Hopefully now resolved. Electricity supply is currently erratic, and will be so for a few more years until enough suppliers are in place. Public transport can hardly cope with the local demand and will have to improve drastically to cater for the influx of tourists. And then there is the serious and violent crime rate which the government seems incapable of controlling.
Also on Sunday, the briefcases of German team manager Oliver Bierhoff and office manager Georg Behlau were stolen. According to the German Football Federation, Bierhoff’s briefcase contained his passport, cellular phone and documents relating to the preliminary draw.
On the Friday before the draw, 23 November 2007, an Austrian tourist, Peter Burgerstaller, was murdered on the Selbourne Golf Estate whilst playing a round of golf. His body was found with a bullet wound in the chest. This golf course is not far from Durban.
Two local people were stabbed to death in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday 24 November 2007. Pietermaritzburg is less than 70 km’s from Durban. The body of Thembiso Ngobesi (17) was found in Haniville, and the body of Mdlotshwa (30) was found in Taylor’s Halt.
Also on Saturday, a 60 year old local man was stabbed to death at his home in Westville North near Durban. His name has not been released yet.
This is only a tiny, small fraction of the serious and violent crimes that were committed in South Africa from Friday to Sunday and only in the vicinity of Durban.
• What is your opinion?
• Is this a normal worldwide trend?
• An attempt at negative publicity?
• Should the world know the true facts?
• Should anyone care?
• What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment