2010: Will we be ready?

"This is disappointing," according to Beatrice Kubheka, Managing Director of African Response. "One of the primary reasons we won the bid to host the cup was the South African people and the national pride at the time of the bid. Confidence in our country should be standing at 100%."

The African Response 2010 Barometer measures public perceptions about our country's readiness to host the World Cup. This will be conducted on a tri-annual basis to track the confidence in our preparations.

"We are a sport-loving nation! 63% of respondents reported that they had gone to a sporting event (excluding school or university games) in the last two years. However, only 50% reported attendance at live soccer matches in the same period. There is obviously a need to promote this sport - and what better opportunity than the World Cup?"

An encouraging aspect of the survey was that 97% respondents are aware that the Soccer World Cup is set to be held in South Africa in 2010 - and this is even before promotion and marketing of the event has begun.

"This is a high level of awareness," says Kubheka. "The World Cup in Germany starts in June 2006 and the marketing campaigns to promote the 2010 World Cup are only set to commence once this is complete."

The majority of respondents (87%) are quick to recognise that South Africa as a whole will benefit from winning the bid.

78% of respondents believe that the event has personal importance. This personal importance is highest in the lowest income group (
Interestingly, respondents over the age of 50 were strongest in the belief that the World Cup will benefit South Africa as a whole (96%).



But are we ready? Public perception about the readiness of our infrastructure and facilities were varied. While accommodation and restaurants have high confidence levels, the general perception is that our electricity infrastructure, roads, transport and security still need improvement for the 2010 World Cup.



PLEASE NOTE: FIELDWORK WAS COMPLETED ON THE 17TH FEBRUARY 2006 - 2 DAYS BEFORE THE MAJOR BLACK OUT IN CAPE TOWN.

It will be interesting to see the change in public perception regarding electricity supply for the World Cup in the next Barometer reading. In this reading 66.5% of respondents are confident that our electricity will meet the demands in 2010. "It is possible that this is not a true reflection - the electricity cuts in Cape Town became far more serious once fieldwork had been completed," says Kubheka.

70.9% of the respondents believed that the stadiums will be ready on time. Another index to watch in the next Barometer reading after the recent announcement by the Mayoral Committee in Cape Town stating that they are halting progress on the proposed R1.28 billion African Renaissance Stadium at Green Point pending a financial review . "This statement will be especially damaging to public confidence, as one of the semi-final games was scheduled to be held at this stadium," comments Kubheka.

Policing and security yielded a 66% vote of confidence. A huge disparity between black and white respondents exists when measuring confidence in these aspects. Almost nine out of ten black respondents felt that policing would be geared up, whilst only three out of ten white respondents felt the same way.

Major cause for concern is the confidence in the readiness of our transport systems - roads and public transport have the lowest confidence scores - scoring 61% and 63% respectively. According to the South African 2010 Final Report, there are plans for Transport Corridors, Travel Demand Management Systems as well as Transport Connections and Spectator Transport Systems. Once the marketing of 2010 begins and public awareness of these plans grows, public confidence in the transport system may increase - but there will have to be visible work on the ground as opposed to just plans in documents.

The good news is that the fans are ready!
61% of respondents say that they will attend a match when the World Cup descends on us - again this is while the focus of the fans is still on the 2006 World Cup. Respondents between the ages of 25 - 34 display the most eagerness to attend (68%) while only 54% of respondents over the age of 50 years are likely to attend. "This is a number to watch in future measurements, as it has a high impact on stadium capacity planning as well ticket prices," comments Kubheka.

Even better news for the broadcasters is that 81% of the population surveyed believe that they will watch the World Cup games on television. This excitement is highest amongst members of lower income groups - 96% of which indicate that they will watch the matches on television. Sentech (the country's broadcasting signal distribution network operators) have, however, warned that multibillion-rand investments in digital broadcasting transmission are needed to properly serve a worldwide television audience. Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, the Sentech CEO, has said there will chaos if the transmission system broke down, as she feared it could (as reported in Business Day, 14 March 2006). Apparently there are no spares available for Sentech's outdated and almost redundant equipment, resulting in protracted repairs.



The big question now is... is Bafana Bafana ready?
While this was not measured in the first reading of the African Response 2010 Barometer, this will be included in future measurements. Undeniably, there is a lot of work to be done - current predictions hint that 2010 may be the first year that a host nation is dismissed in the second round and our team is still in need of a coach!

Proudly South African
Given the South African passion for sport, 2010 brings with it an excellent opportunity to prove that we can "deliver an excellent World Cup" as projected by the FIFA Bid committee in 2004. In remains to be seen though, if we will be as prepared as Beijing is for their Olympics, or if we will be scrambling to the finishing line as Athens were for the 2004 Olympics

"It is crucial to show that we truly as Proudly South African as we displayed during the bid process - which played a large role in our eventual bid victory. The same sentiment is an absolute must if we are to leave a legacy in Soccer World Cup history," concludes Kubheka.

About the survey

The study was conducted in all of the South African provinces. 251 interviews were conducted using face-to-face intercept interviews.