JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAY 10, 2010 9 8 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAY 10, 2010 I t is held only once every four years. Soccer fans worldwide go crazy for it. This June, for the first time, the World Cup will kick off in an African nation—South Africa. For the people of Nelspruit (nels- PROO-it), this is not all good news. Located in northeastern South Africa, the Nelspruit area is home to 600,000 people. Only 4 of the 64 World Cup games are to be played in the city. (The other games will be played in eight cities across South Africa. See map, pp. 12-13.) Yet a $137 million stadium has been built for the occasion. The arena’s 18 supporting pylons reach skyward in the shape of orange giraffes. At night, their eyeballs blink with flashes of bewitching light. The people who live nearby, proud as they are to co-host soccer’s greatest event, also wonder: How could there be money for a stadium while many of them still fetch water from dirty puddles and live without electricity or toilets? “Ripples of Confidence” The 2010 World Cup is meant to display South Africa at its very best: a modern, prosperous nation friendly to commerce, tourists, and democratic ideals. Former President Thabo Mbeki (TAH-boh um-BEH- kee) suggested that the competition was a milestone for the entire conti- nent, “sending ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo.” Such boasts may well turn out to be true. South Africa has spent more than $6 billion on stadiums, roads, airports, and other projects. But Nelspruit, in preparing for its 6 hours of championship soccer, is instead an example of the nation’s worst feature—its distressing AS ONE SOUTH AFRICAN CITY PREPARES FOR THE WORLD CUP, A NEW STADIUM EXPOSES A DIVIDE BETWEEN THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTS PAGE 8: STF/AFP/NEWSCOM; PAGE 9: BENEDICTE KURZEN/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX Continued on p. 10 ➜ SOUTH AFRICA: FAST FACTS AREA: 471,444 sq mi POPULATION: 50,700,000. Black Africans, 79%; whites, 9.6%; mixed-race, 8.9%, Indian/Asian, 2.5% PER CAPITA GDP: $10,000 RELIGIONS: Christian, 80%; none, 15%; other, 5% LANGUAGES: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Sotho, others LITERACY: Males, 87%; females, 86% LIFE EXPECTANCY: Males, 50 years; females, 54 years • ancestral (adj): inherited from those who came before. • commerce (n): the trading, buying, or selling of products and services. • white elephant (n): something requiring expensive upkeep while providing little or no profit. 7 Words to Know A teenage boy fetches water near his home in the shadow of Nelspruit’s brightly lit stadium. Many families in the area lack access to clean water and electricity. HOT TOPIC: WORLD South Africa In the Shadow of a Stadium Nelspruit’s stadium under construction.
Transcript
JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAy 10, 2010 98 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAy 10, 2010
It is held only once every four years. Soccer fans worldwide go crazy for it. This June, for the first
time, the World Cup will kick off in an African nation—South Africa. For the people of Nelspruit (nels-PROO-it), this is not all good news.
Located in northeastern South Africa, the Nelspruit area is home to 600,000 people. Only 4 of the 64 World Cup games are to be played in the city. (The other games will be played in eight cities across South Africa. See map, pp. 12-13.) Yet a $137 million stadium has been built for the occasion.
The arena’s 18 supporting pylons reach skyward in the shape of orange giraffes. At night, their eyeballs blink with flashes of bewitching light. The people who live nearby, proud as they are to co-host soccer’s greatest event, also wonder: How could there be money for a stadium while many of them still fetch water from dirty puddles and live without electricity or toilets?
“Ripples of Confidence”The 2010 World Cup is meant
to display South Africa at its very best: a modern, prosperous nation friendly to commerce, tourists, and democratic ideals. Former President Thabo Mbeki (TAH-boh um-BEH-kee) suggested that the competition was a milestone for the entire conti-nent, “sending ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo.”
Such boasts may well turn out to be true. South Africa has spent more than $6 billion on stadiums, roads, airports, and other projects. But Nelspruit, in preparing for its 6 hours of championship soccer, is instead an example of the nation’s worst feature—its distressing
As one south AfRiCAn City pRepARes foR the WoRld Cup, A neW stAdium exposes A divide betWeen the hAves And the hAve-nots
LIFE EXPECTANCY: Males, 50 years; females, 54 years
• ancestral (adj): inherited from those who came before.
• commerce (n): the trading, buying, or selling of products and services.
• white elephant (n): something requiring expensive upkeep while providing little or no profit.
7Words to Know
A teenage boy fetches water near his home in the shadow of Nelspruit’s brightly lit stadium. Many families in the area lack access to clean water and electricity.
HOT TOPIC: WORLD
SouthAfrica
In the Shadow of a Stadium
Nelspruit’s stadium under construction.
10 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAy 10, 2010
inequality. Some economists call the divide between the haves and the have-nots here the worst in the world. An epidemic of local cor-ruption adds to the trouble, often leading downtrodden people to rise up in anger.
Just ask Simon Magagula. He lives in a mud house accessible by a dirt road whose potholes deepen with each rainfall. From his door-way it is a short jaunt to the new stadium. “Those who’ll benefit from this are the wealthy who already have plenty in their hand,” he said. Magagula spoke not in resentment so much as with weariness.
He was right: Most of the money made from building the stadium reportedly went to the corrupt politicians and businesspeople who always appear when money and power are involved.
“No point in trying to hide it,
there was a total collapse of good governance, primarily around the World Cup,” said Lassy Chiwayo, Nelspruit’s mayor. Chiwayo was installed as an emergency care-
taker in late 2008 after the previous mayor was forced out of office.
Independent investigators found that millions of dollars had been misspent on big contracts. Their final report calls for criminal charges against a local official and the directors of three companies managing the stadium project.
bulldozing schoolsWhen it comes to the World
Cup, Nelspruit seems to put its worst foot forward repeatedly.
Simply acquiring the stadium site seemed corrupt. The township per-suaded the owners of a huge tract of ancestral land to sell 173 acres for 1 rand (about 13 cents). People
in the community objected, and a judge canceled the deal. The even-tual price was about $1 million.
“There has been nothing but duplicity [deceptive words], dou-ble-dealing, and double agendas,” said Richard Spoor, the lawyer who handled the case. “And what will we have after the World Cup is played? There’s no team to occupy the stadium. It will be a white elephant. Politicians will use it to make speeches.”
An elementary school and a high
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school sat on the purchased land. They were bulldozed in 2007, and the students were transferred to hot and airless temporary classrooms.
Parents and their children repeat-edly staged protests. They blocked streets, burned tires, and once even torched a police car. The police scattered them with rubber bullets. This year, construction was started to replace the demolished schools.
“The school problem made us furious—that and the need for jobs,” said Magagula. “Some people were hired to work on the stadium, but not enough. We’ve been prom-ised a better life, but look how we live. If you pour water into a glass, you can see things moving inside.”
Yet he loves soccer, the favorite sport of black South Africans. He cannot wait for the World Cup to begin. He could afford only one ticket for one game, an $18 seat specially priced for the country’s residents.
Nelspruit’s arena is one of five new stadiums in cities across South Africa, including some that are quite spectacular. It will host Honduras versus Chile, Italy versus New Zea-land, Australia versus Serbia, and North Korea versus Ivory Coast.
“I chose the Italians,” Magagula said proudly. “I don’t really care who wins. But whatever happens, I’ll never forget it.”
—Barry Bearakwith reporting by Sydney Masinga
The article from which this was adapted originally appeared in The New York Times.
1. Why do the people of nelspruit have mixed emotions about hosting World Cup matches?
2. Why do you think parents and children were so outraged about losing their schools? how would you have reacted?
7 think about it
Above: South Africa’s economic divide is evident in the contrast between a luxury home (top) and a shantytown (bottom), where the green structure in the foreground serves as a communal toilet.
Children have been studying in temporary classrooms (above) since their schools were razed for a new stadium. The stadium can be seen in the photo at right.
Look how we live. if you pour water into a glass, you can see things moving inside.“ ”
Fans cheer for South Africa’s soccer team. More than 200,000 fans from around the world are expected for the World Cup.
south Africa is a parliamentary democracy.South Africa changed dramatically in 1991, when its long-held system of apartheid (racial segregation) ended. Black Africans—the majority of the population—won the right to vote. The Constitution of 1996 established the current system of government.
the pResident is elected by the National Assembly to a five-year term. He or she may not serve more than two terms. If the president believes that a bill passed by parliament is unconstitutional, he or she can send it back or refer it to the Constitutional Court. The president appoints an executive deputy president and a Cabinet.
pARliAment is the legislative branch. It consists of two chambers, the National Assembly and the National Council of provinces. The national Assembly has 400 members elected to five-year terms. political parties win seats based on their share of the vote. (voters cast ballots for parties, not candidates.) The national Council of provinces has more-limited powers. It has 90 members, 10 from each province.
the ConstitutionAl CouRt is South Africa’s highest court. It deals exclusively with whether laws are constitutional. It has 11 members. The president selects them from a list that a judicial commission draws up. They serve for 12 to 15 years.
foR CompARison, see the u.s. GoveRnment pRofile At scholastic.com/js/ourgovt.
Web Watch 2010 fifA World Cup
fifa.com/worldcup
HOT TOPIC: WORLD
12 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAy 10, 2010 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / MAy 10, 2010 13
35° S
30° S
25° S25° S
30° S
35° S
TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
Area of map
National capital
City
City that will hostWorld Cup matches
World Cup venue
Internationalborder
Major road
Port Elizabeth
East London
BeaufortWest
Kimberley
Rustenburg
Polokwane
Johannesburg
Maseru
Upington
Concordia
Cape Town(Legislative)
Bloemfontein(Judicial)
Pretoria(Administrative)
Durban
Nelspruit
SOUTH AFRICA
NAMIBIA
BOTSWANA MOZAMBIQUE
SWAZILAND
LESOTHO
Cape of Good Hope
ATLANTICOCEAN
SaintHelena
Bay
INDIANOCEAN
Scale:
0 100 MI
0 200 KM
Cape Town Stadium*
Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Peter Mokaba Stadium
Ellis Park StadiumSoccer City Stadium
Royal Bafokeng Stadium
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Moses Mabhida Stadium
Free State Stadium
EQUATORAFRICAAFRICA
Area of map
U.S.
SouthernHemisphere
15° E
15° E 20° E 25° E 30° E 35° E
20° E 25° E 30° E 35° E
Mbombela Stadium
MbabaneMaputo
Gaborone
7Mapsearch
the World Cup is soccer’s biggest event. Held once every four years, the tournament draws more worldwide television viewers than the Olympics and the Super Bowl combined.
Soccer—or football as it is called everywhere except the U.S.—has existed in one form or another since ancient times. But it really took off in England in the late 1800s, when “foot-ball” and rugby were split into two sports.
This June and July, the World Cup competition will be held in South Africa. Hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world will descend on the country to root for their teams. This map shows the stadiums in which the 64 World Cup matches will be played. Study the map, then answer the questions.
the World cup in south africa
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L Questions Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What are the three capitals of south Africa? 2. how many south African cities will host World
Cup matches? 3. to see matches in both polokwane and Cape
town, how many straight-line miles would you need to travel?
4. Which country is bordered on all sides by south Africa?
5. Which stadium is located at 30°s? 6. Which body of water lies east of south Africa? 7. What is the name of the stadium in nelspruit? 8. if you were staying in Kimberley, in which
direction would you need to travel to see a match in Johannesburg?
9. When the World Cup takes place, what season will it be in south Africa? how do you know?
10. What do you suppose are some of the advantages of hosting a sporting event such as the World Cup? What might be some of the disadvantages?
HOT TOPIC: WORLD
Web Watch 2010 fifA World Cup
fifa.com/worldcup
* Cape Town Stadium is also known as green point Stadium.
