 Fahrenheit 2010: A Matter More Important Than Life or Death; Feature documentary, by Australian Craig Tanner |
“If we are going to have white elephants, so be it”
-- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Once the World Cup Tourists pack their bags and go home; and the economy haemoraghes from World Cup stadium debt, in a country in crisis; and hundreds of thousands (?) of African World Cup 'tourists' don't go home, but stick around, as 'refugees'; do you think ANC voters will be encouraged by ANC and 'TRC' leaders to hold the ANC accountable? Or might they find themselves the proverbial 'right wingers' scapegoats to blame?“When you build enormous stadia, you (are) shifting those resources ... from building schools or hospitals and then you have these huge structures standing empty and being used to a very limited extent. They become white elephants”» » [S.S. ZA-Titanic Charging Full Speed Ahead to 2010 World Cup Iceberg...]
-- ‘anti-apartheid’ (sic) Veteran Dennis Brutus, jailed with Nelson Mandela at Robben Island in the 1960's
“Lingering concerns that some stadiums will become empty shells that are a burden to taxpayers have threatened to take the shine off government plans to leave a meaningful post-tournament legacy. In September Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said the government faced a 2.3 billion rand ($307 million) shortfall for six new stadiums.” -- Fahrenheit 2010
““There is currently no contingency plan saying what's actually going to happen to this stadium (Mbombela) once the World Cup is gone ... and at the end of the day one can only think that the stadium is going to stand redundant and empty afterwards,” said Anthony Benadie, an opposition politician.” -- Fahrenheit 2010
» » [Meet South Africa's new Big Five...White Elephant 2010 WC Stadiums]
» » [S.S. ZA Titanic # 2: World Cup 2010 Stadium's Going to Haemorrhage Money.... ]
South Africa, emerging from its first recession in two decades, is hoping 450,000 foreign tourists will boost revenues during the month-long tournament starting June 11.
“The approach is one of appearance where the stadia become much more important than what is actually going on behind the scenes.” -- Fahrenheit 2010
Behind the Scenes......
Boycott 2010 World Cup: Truth & Justice or Secession:
» » [‘Why going to 2010 World Cup terrifies Guardian.UK's Louise Taylor..’]
» » [Black S.African Violence Strikes Canadians Twice in December, Trail Leading ...]
» » [ZA Top 20 Dangerous Travel Destinations: Beware: SA is Violent...]
» » [ZA Top 20 ... # 2: UK, US, AU et al warn citizens: “Exercise Highest Degree of Caution”]
Fahrenheit 2010: Documentary slams preparations for 2010
ESPN: Soccernet
Monday, 14 December 2009 00:00
 Foul! Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-rigging & Ticket Scandals; by Andrew Jennings |
South Africa has wasted resources on next year's soccer World Cup and will be left with stadiums that are no more than white elephants, a critical new documentary says.
Continental economic powerhouse South Africa, the first African nation to stage the sports spectacle, has spent billions of dollars to build new stadiums and refurbish existing venues in 10 cities where games will be played.
But social activists and academics say the funds would have been better spent tackling poverty, housing shortages and a health system buckling under a major HIV/Aids epidemic.
"When you build enormous stadia, you (are) shifting those resources ... from building schools or hospitals and then you have these huge structures standing empty and being used to a very limited extent. They become white elephants," anti-apartheid veteran Dennis Brutus, who was jailed with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island in the 1960s, tells "Fahrenheit 2010".
Lingering concerns that some stadiums will become empty shells that are a burden to taxpayers have threatened to take the shine off government plans to leave a meaningful post-tournament legacy. In September Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said the government faced a 2.3 billion rand ($307 million) shortfall for six new stadiums.
Besides funding challenges, claims of corruption and tender rigging have been linked to the new Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, where only four of the 64 World Cup games will be played.
The location of other new stadiums, notably semi-final venues Green Point in Cape Town and in Durban, have also been criticised.
"There is currently no contingency plan saying what's actually going to happen to this stadium (Mbombela) once the World Cup is gone ... and at the end of the day one can only think that the stadium is going to stand redundant and empty afterwards," said Anthony Benadie, an opposition politician.
Feature documentary Fahrenheit 2010, written and directed by Australian Craig Tanner, was screened to a Cape Town audience for the first time on Sunday evening.
South Africa, emerging from its first recession in two decades, is hoping 450,000 foreign tourists will boost revenues during the month-long tournament starting June 11.
Marketing the country's attractions to a global audience estimated at 1 billion is also expected to lead to a long-term tourist boom and job creation.
But besides a politically connected elite, centred in the construction sector, there was little evidence so far to suggest South Africans will benefit economically.
FIFA expects to make 25 billion rand ($3.34 billion) from its 2010 television broadcasting deals alone, more than the combined total achieved for television rights in its 2002 and 2006 tournaments.
"The tragedy is that public funds have been looted for a moment in our history. People are still going to be living in shacks, the jobs are not sustainable - this is a blatant misuse of funds," said sociologist Ashwin Desai.
However, some viewed the tournament in a different light - as a vehicle for uniting a nation still battling the effects of discrimination 15 years after apartheid, and where the gap between rich and poor is the highest in the world.
"With all the negative things that are taking place in Africa, this is a superb moment for us. If we are going to have white elephants, so be it," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
» » » » [ESPN: Soccernet (PDF)]
Film Takes Hard Look at 2010: questions use of money
Bienne Huisman, Times Live * Colleen Dardagan, The Mercury
Dec 12, 2009 11:09 PM
 |
A documentary set to hit screens today could cast a cloud over 2010 Soccer World Cup fervour in South Africa.
The film, Fahrenheit 2010, takes a look at jarring realities often overlooked in the build-up to next year's events.
Fahrenheit 2010, made by the Australia-based, South African-born film-maker Craig Tanner and Durbanite Michael Cross, raises some uncomfortable questions about the country's bid to meet Fifa's draconian requirements for the successful hosting of the event.
"This film is not about whether South Africa should host the event but we are questioning the way in which it has been done. Money has been hijacked to build new stadiums when adequate facilities exist," said Tanner.
"The recent hosting of the Confederations Cup was held successfully in existing stadiums. Newlands in Cape Town and Absa Stadium in Durban could have been renovated for fairly modest amounts of money.
 $1,2bn (R8,9bn). The estimated total construction cost of SA's 10 World Cup stadiums. [ANC Captain Blighs of S.Y. ZA-Titanic Charging Full 'Circus Maximus' Speed Ahead to 2010 World Cup Iceberg...] |
"It's inevitable that these two facilities will be demolished - as Durban's city manager, Michael Sutcliffe, has conceded in the film. There are no long-enduring benefits from these new stadiums.
"More than 1 000 people are dying of HIV/Aids a day in this country and such obscene amounts of money have been diverted away from keeping people alive and providing them with decent shelter to host football matches. It's outrageous," said Tanner.
Through interviews in November and December last year, it promises to "cut through the hype" and is punted as "an uncompromising examination of what the World Cup means for South Africans themselves".
Said Craig Tanner, the film's Australian writer and director: "On the road, as we travelled from city to city, and town to town, speaking to people, the film's central theme came into focus. Why would a country with daunting socio-economic challenges, choose to spend its limited resources on building the world's most modern sports arenas?
Issues addressed in Fahrenheit 2010, edited by Michael Cross of local company Rogue Productions,include the stadiums becoming white elephants, Bafana Bafana's lack of on-field prowess, and the soccer stadium scandal that rocked the Mbombela Municipality in Mpumalanga. Here, 66 children were evicted from their school building to make way for construction workers. They were placed in small, unbearably hot make-shift classrooms, resulting in violent protests.
 One of the emergency financial decisions by the Pontiac City Council was to sell the Pontiac Silverdome, originally built for $55.7 million 35 years ago, for $583,000.... less than a house, or Rodent Infested Manhattan One Bed Room Apartment. ANC Captain Blighs of S.Y. ZA-Titanic Charging Full 'Circus Maximus' Speed Ahead to 2010 World Cup Iceberg... |
"Unfortunately it's too late to debate whether the new stadiums should have been built, the country is already committed, but I hope anyone who sees the film will begin to ask questions and it will give them an opportunity to reflect on what this World Cup is really all about."
Tanner, who is making the journey from Sydney to Durban's Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre for the opening, said he had been shocked at what had been revealed during the making of the film, particularly in more remote areas such as Nelspruit. "When I arrived in the country to start filming, I didn't have any sense of what we would find. I was told to go to Nelspruit because things were going on there. What we found there was shocking. Kids kicked out of their school to make way for a 48
000-seater stadium. They are now being housed in prefab classrooms in a spot where a road is going to be built. The land for the stadium was bought from the community for R1."
» » » » [Times Live (PDF)]
Screening Info for Fahrenheit 2010
Andreas Späth,
While You Were Sleeping
 “In the last 15 years, over 45 000 Afrikaners have been murdered and over 90 000 Afrikaner women have been raped. How can a you have a World Cup Soccer event in a country where one of its minority groups are being exterminated?” asks Bittereinder Boer, at his Boycott 2010 World Cup South Africa Facebook Cause |
Capetown:
This event was presented by The Labia and While You Were Sleeping, on 13 December 2009. While You Were Sleeping is a Cape Town-based non-profit film collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream documentaries with important social and environmental messages to South African audiences.
Contacts:
The Labia: 021 424 5927
While You Were Sleeping:
Andreas Späth: 084 772 1056
To receive invitations to future screenings, send a message to Andreas at:
Andreas_Spath@yahoo.com (your email address will never be used for any other purpose or disclosed to anyone else).
Durban:
KZNSA (Kwa Zulu Natal Society of Arts), Bulwer Road, Glenwood,
Sunday 13 December @ 7.00pm.
Johannesburg:
The House of Nsako, 101 High Street, Brixton,
Wednesday 16 December @ 8.15pm.
» » » » [While You Were Sleeping]
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