| Let's use the SWC "serendipity" to solve problems - 2010/07/19 | |
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News Article: 5864 has been read 243 times. |
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| SA and its construction firms should offer advice to Brazil on its SWC preparations. JOHANNESBURG - In the late 1970s, South Africa's staple topic was "rugby, sex and the gold price". The gold price had reached all-time highs of around $850 an ounce. People were walking around with their noses up in the air. Who could blame them? It was glory time. Well, the gold price is close to $1 200 an ounce today. These are different times, but are still glory times, nonetheless. But this time around, it was all through "serendipity". But, what is that? What is serendipity? It is an accidental, albeit pleasant discovery. This 2010 Fifa World Cup has been our serendipity. In only five weeks, we discovered (maybe by accident) how big we are, how smart we are, how committed we are, how a nation of conquerors we are. But, most of all, we now know who are. Yes, we kicked but! Alan Hansen, BBC analyst and former Liverpool soccer great is quoted as saying: "All the major tournaments I have been to, or played at, pale into insignificance in comparison." Wow! An army of A-list celebrities, award winning musicians, past and present world leaders and sports stars descended on our shores and, within no time, they were eating out of our palms. From ex-US President Bill Clinton to Nobel Laureate Henry Kissinger, to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to Kofi Annan, to Shakira, to Leonardo DiCaprio to Mick Jagger to Paris Hilton, they all think differently of us today. No one can deny us our place at the top. In the packing order, we are up there with the best. Only a jealous fool can query that. Listen up all of you. Our leadership, business and political, sport and otherwise must now talk big! We should not tolerate any small talk. Chest-forward all of you! Don't tolerate the back seat any more. Hey, man! Even the SABC made a R100m profit this quarter, thanks to its official broadcaster status of the Fifa World Cup. Can you imagine? Now savour this. A total of 15 000 volunteers, black and white, young and old, big and small came to the party to work. From taxi-driver to an engineer, to an accountant to a student, they all came together and contributed for the sake of their beloved country. Now, there is even a talk of South Africa being a "Plan B" in case Brazil fails. Talking of Brazil, we must go across there and offer advice. We have all the experience. It has to develop all kinds of infrastructure over there in four years. It must build new airports, and so on and so on. Our companies like Group Five, Murray & Roberts and the others, stand a good chance to win big contracts over there. So, let's do it. But look at this: One million people passed through the country's borders since the start of the spectacle in early June. Stadium attendances were beyond those of the past four World Cups, at a total of 3.2m- second only to the United States in 1994. More than five million people attended the official Fifa Fan Fests to watch the games. A conservative R12bn was injected into the South African economy. Matches involving Bafana Bafana made local television history with figures of the opening game against Mexico drawing 7.7m viewers - the largest television audience for a sporting event in the country's history. The event was the most profitable in Fifa's history. Soccer's governing body made $3.2bn from selling its tickets and television rights, 30% more than for the previous tournament. Local soccer picked up a nice slice, with the South African Football Association pocketing $77m from ticket sales for soccer development. Police headquarters confirmed a downward trend in crime nationally following the deployment of 40 000 extra policemen and women for the Cup. Despite security concerns ahead of the event, the LOC confirmed crime had been the lowest of any World Cup. Like those hippies and double-breasted suited executives of the late 1970s celebrating the $850 an-ounce gold price, let's walk tall. But most of all let's use the World Cup "SERENDIPITY" to solve our other problems. Now, what are we not capable of doing? Sipho Ngcobo |
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| Source: Moneyweb | Date: 2010/07/19 |
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