Date: 18/08/2010
Source: The Democratic Alliance
Title: DA: Krumbock: Address by DA Member of Parliament, during the debate on a successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, National Assembly, Cape Town

The point of hosting any mega event such as the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics is to use this rare opportunity to rebrand your country in a way that stimulates investor confidence and significantly increases tourism appeal. The World Cup offered our country the chance to decisively rebrand ourselves as a safe, friendly and value-for-money destination that could present an unparalleled range of experiences unrivalled anywhere else around the world.

It is against this long-term objective that our hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup should be viewed.

During the World Cup itself, the Democratic Alliance interacted with and interviewed face-to-face a large number of fans as fellow tourists: in the airports, striding out in the fan walks, trying out the Rea Vaya, together on the Park and Rides, riding on the Gautrain and on the intercity and airport shuttles. 

Based on these interviews, we can unequivocally state that from a tourism perspective, our hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a resounding success.

In the first instance, the World Cup tourists who visited our shores found South Africans to be amongst the friendliest people in the world. 11% found us "friendly and hospitable", while a whopping 89% found us "extremely friendly and hospitable". 

The deployment of an additional 40 000 SAPS officers onto our streets during the World Cup succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. 70% of fans said they felt "safe", 26% felt "very safe" and only 4% said they felt, on occasion, "somewhat unsafe", mostly in Johannesburg. 

Many tourists said that the constant visible presence of SAPS officers was a reassuring factor which made them feel completely at ease and that their actual experience during the World Cup in terms of safety was completely different to the perception they had gained back home. 

The lesson we must draw from this aspect of the World Cup experience is obvious. Visible policing works and there is no reason for any tourist to feel unsafe in our country provided that reasonable safety precautions are practiced. 

Fears that World Cup tourists might be overcharged proved unfounded. Competition in the hospitality industries ensured that 48% of our tourists found prices reasonable and similar to those back home, while a further 45% found our prices cheaper than in their home country. Only 7% found prices more expensive, with most respondents citing taxi fares as the culprit. 

Not surprisingly, 23% of World Cup visitors found the individual games and general World Cup experience the highlight of their trip. Excluding the football, 37% of our tourists found the Kruger Park, safaris and game drives their most memorable experience during the tournament, while 26% found Cape Town and its tourist attractions outstanding. 

A less expected result was that 1 in 4 tourists found South Africa's people themselves to be their most rewarding experience. Fans spoke of the ongoing development of our rainbow nation and non-racial crowds singing Inkosi Sikelele iAfrika together at fans zones and at beach fronts to be personally unforgettable. 

Of course, challenges do remain. The chaos that ensued on July 7th at King Shaka International Airport before the World Cup semi-final between Germany and Spain when ACSA spinelessly failed to exercise proper control must be stringently interrogated by the Portfolio Committee on Transport. Not only did this incident undermine the very positive reports of our country that had hitherto dominated the world press, but it should have been avoided based on numerous earlier warnings, unfortunately ignored.

While my personal experience and that of most South Africans was that the Park and Rides - with the exception of Rustenberg - airport shuttles, intercity shuttles, Rea Vaya, taxis and fan walks operated seamlessly every time, it is interesting that 74.5% of our tourists found transport to be either their worst experience during the World Cup or the area where the greatest improvement is needed. Respondents cited pot holes, untarred roads, lack of public transport, clogged traffic in Johannesburg and expensive taxis time and time again. As much as public transport was an improvement, our tourists are telling us that we are nowhere near international standards as yet. 

Transport issues notwithstanding, the DA believe our overall hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a remarkable success. We have successfully rebranded our country as a safe, friendly and value-for-money destination. All the more reason now to rethink the very short-sighted decision to cut back R160 million from SA Tourism's budget over the MTEF period. No successful business spends R43 billion developing a product - which is what the World Cup cost us - and then dramatically cuts back on its budget advertising its product.

Provided SA Tourism is allowed to do its job, we can increase our tourist numbers by 10% and generate additional receipts to SARS of around R6 billion per year.

Given that ratepayers have largely financed the stadiums and that ongoing maintenance costs appear to be less than 5% of additional SARS receipts, it seems very unfair that the national fiscus should bank the ongoing World Cup receipts while local ratepayers bear the maintenance. The Democratic Alliance therefore asks that a conditional grant is therefore made available to applicable local government structures to ensure a fairer distribution of the World Cup dividend.

The World Cup was a great accelerator that delivered much needed infrastructural improvements to our country which will underpin our economic growth for decades to come. Airports, stadiums and roads were built in record time. Residents who had seen potholes widening for years and broken street lights suddenly saw them filled and repaired almost overnight along with greening and beautification of their cities and suburbs. Crime plummeted during the World Cup. We also accelerated the building of one nation with one future. 

The President of FIFA has shown us what we can do under pressure. Now let's carry on doing it ourselves.