World Cup 2010

We are already less than 100 days away from the World Cup, and all the hard-work and hype will come to fruition soon. As usual we can always count on Zapiro to give us a good dose of reality in the face of political absurdity.

Our young democracy is already a sweet sixteen year old, though promises, promises and yet more promises to the electorate remained unfulfilled. However, when it came to a real money spinner, billions of Rands were dished up like the watery gruel found aplenty at soup kitchens for the homeless. So what is the real commitment of our government? Makes you wonder doesn't it?

It seems to be no real secret that a vast majority, if not all, of the contracts put on tender for the building of new stadia or the renovations of existing ones, went to "well connected" consortia and corporations. Most organisations required no past experience in the contracts tendered for, oh no - the reason being that the work was subsequently sub-contracted (at a hefty profit, no doubt). The story didn't end there though, with contracts being sub-contracted over three, four or even five levels. 

The real loser in this whole scenario? The tax-payers who had to fork out the billions of Rands for this farce. If anyone is a fan of Donald Trump's The Apprentice you would no doubt have watched a few episodes where people were fired for going marginally over budget. Soccer City (Johannesburg), went R1 billion over budget to cost R3.2 billion. That's almost 50% more than budgeted for, yet discussions on the topic are trivialised as if mere cents were involved. The reason given for the excessive final cost was rising material costs. But how much can be attributed to the hefty middlemen profits that were obviously worked into the costs?

With the obvious corrupt mindset of the current crop of esteemed people in charge, South Africa's future prospects do not bode well. The white-collar elite are content in playing demi-Gods with taxpayers money, while the impoverished majority remain so. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities somehow gives one a feeling of déjà vu. 

Sixteen year old South Africa is pregnant from a Zuma presidency. Let us all pray that the aftermath is not Julius Malema, or God save us all.

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