Thousands of shabby migrants on the streets are not what South Africa wants its international
tourists to be confronted with, and many commentators reflect the view that this is partly
why the CMM has drawn the ire of some government officials in the last year.91 In January
2010, an SAP raid rounded up 39 Zimbabweans in the immediate vicinity of the CMM,
including several very ill people who were in fact sitting in the queue outside the MSF offices
waiting for medical treatment. One of the policemen stated in the hearing of MSF staff,
that these arrests for “loitering” were part of a 2010 clean up, which would be
continuing from now until after the WFC, which seems to confirm the assumption that
migrants can expect more arrests linked to the WFC.92
Several inner city buildings have faced evictions in the last year, but opinion was divided
among interviewees as to whether these evictions fell within the “normal” number of
evictions, or were geared towards pushing people out of the inner city ahead of 2010.93
3.
The WFC and street vending
One of the WFC regulations that it expects host countries to abide by, is that no street vending
or pavement selling should take place within a one kilometer radius of any official stadium –
and that this should be enforced for up to 90 days prior to the beginning of the WFC, as well as
for its duration.94 Pavement vending is a permanent feature of Johannesburg’s inner city – yet
a quick drive around within a one kilometer radius of Ellis Park in early March showed the
authors that the clean up of vending has evidently already largely happened: one can scarcely
find a vendor within this space now.
Paul Verryn confirmed this, saying that all the street people in the CBD had been moved out
over the last year. They are now allegedly in Brixton, Mayfair, or in police holding cells – they
have simply been moved further away from the area around the Ellis Park stadium, but
apparently with no permanent plan in mind.95 The SALHR informed the authors that they
were in fact taking a case to the Supreme Court to appeal the constitutionality of this FIFA
regulation, on the grounds that it would infringe people’s rights to livelihood – but it seems
that whatever its outcome, this legal appeal is rather late. It is self evident that the clean up
has gone ahead already.
4.
After the World Cup?
Fears were expressed by some organisations interviewed that there could be a resurgence of
xenophobia in the wake of the WFC. Expectations are widespread in South Africa currently of
income generation linked to the arrival of WFC tourists. But there is also the perception in
some quarters that this may be overly optimistic, and that the bonanza may not be as great as
anticipated – and in any case, will be short lived. Sales of tickets to overseas visitors have been
fewer than planned, and high intercontinental prices for airfares are also reportedly keeping
people away, as is an international perception of South Africa as a violent, crime‐ridden
country.96 Experiences in other countries around the world have shown that money spent on
hosting these huge events is often not regained through the income generation of the event
91 Interviews with FMSP, LRC, Aids Law Project, Paul Verryn, MSF in early March 2010.
92 Interviews, MSF and LRC, March 2010.
93 Interviews with FMSP, LRC, SALHR, Paul Verryn, March 2010.
94 Interview, SALHR, March 2010.
95 Interview, 4 March 2010.
96 Interviews, FMSP, LRC and many media articles.
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