So here is what I don't get.
We've heard a lot of this sort of thing over the past few months: how it is shameful that South Africa is managing to pull off this huge international event, build these fantastic stadiums, upgrade airports, choreograph security and transport, etc etc for the World Cup, when we still have so many problems in our own nation. The problems with government provided housing, the massive problems in education, the problems of poverty, corruption, crime, health services and so on. Why is it that we can get it together to pull of this major international evet, but not to sort out our own, serious, problems? Aren't our priotities so skewed?!!
But. The world cup is an event that will last a month. It did entail several major building projects, but that is it: several. It did take a lot of money but I dare say it is not a pinch on what we spend on education. We did manage to sort out transport for it. But again, this is for an event that will last a month.
What the world cup planning didn't entail was dealing with a massive dispersed nation wide network of local government, provincial government, unions, and staff at government led institutions. Hospitals, clinics, schools, police stations.
What it didn't entail was sustaining quality service from all of these different categories of people from year to year to year.
What it entail was dealing with the inefficiency of the civil service. I remember being told by a teacher I know that teachers in her area weren't paid last December. The beuracracy just didn't get it together to pay them. No, the world cup didn't have to deal with that.
So why is it now a scandal that we managed to pull up the world cup?
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