South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup

South Africa will host the 2010 FIFA World Cup this summer between 11 June and 11 July. This is the first time this event has ever been hosted by an African nation, which I find pretty exciting.

The 2010 FIFA world cup's official mascot, seen on the left is called Zakumi, a human-leopard hybrid. His name is derived from the abbreviation of South Africa (ZA) and the ending, 'kumi' means ten in various African languages.

According to a recent LA Times article, South African president, recently opened Durban's new international airport to conclude the final part of the the country's major World Cup infrastructure.

On the South Africa website, they list and disclose the new construction projects going on for the upcoming World Cup. According the site, South Africa will spend around R5 billion on building and renovating 10 World Cup stadiums, R5.2 billion on upgrades to airports and R3.5 billion on improvements to the country's roads and rail systems.

I think all this influx of tourism and infrastructure improvements will help to ameliorate South Africa's global image. Below is the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 commercial. I'm excited to see some football!

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Website

South Africa Info Website

2010 FIFA World Cup Wikipedia Website

South Africa launches major AIDS campaign

LA Times article: South Africa launches major AIDS campaign

The South African President Jacob Zuma announced that he was HIV negative this Sunday as the nation kicked off the first and ambitious AIDS prevention program. Zuma shared his test results to promote "openness". He goes on to state:

"We have to work harder ... to make all South Africans understand that people living with HIV/AIDS haven't committed a crime," he said. "We have to expand the knowledge and understanding of the epidemic to protect affected individuals and families. The stigma arises from fear, and fear from ignorance."

Overall, the government aims to get 1/3 of the population tested by June 2011 by offering HIV exams to anyone who goes to a clinic regardless of their visit.

I think this program is going to really start to help the AIDS and HIV problem in South Africa. After reading some other articles, I found that South Africans don't know a lot about AIDS or HIV and it's stigmatized because of it. In fact, the article points out the polygamous history of the nation. It's no big deal for people to have multiple partners and this is a major problem because it makes the spread quicker and more wide-spread.

Zuma has faced some recent controversy over his past extramarital behavior. Opponents pointed out that his discretions put the health of his three wives at risk. While his actions are questionable, his openness about the AIDS topic is very new to South Africa. His predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, at one point denied the connection between HIV and AIDS and for this his dispersal of life-saving medicines was slow.

I think South Africa now recognizes that it has a major health problem with one third of it's population. This new program has received very positive attention, which it should and we can only hope that the program ameliorates the situation.

South Africa's Political History

Currently, South Africa is considered a Constitutional Democracy with the ANC, African National Congress, as the dominant political party. They have been since 1994 when Nelson Mandela became President. Currently Jacob Zuma is President.

South Africa was colonized by the British and the Boers, but it wasn't until the discovery of precious diamonds and gold in the late 19th century that started a power struggle. This resulted in the Anglo-Boer War.

The first laws of South Africa were established by the Dutch East India Company During the Dutch and British colonial years, segregation was mostly informal with loose legislation like the pass laws were created. In the Boer republics segregation became a legalized system classifying the population into 3 ethnic classes: white, coloured and black with different rights and restrictions applicable to each.

South Africa became a Republic in 1961, but a free general election didn't occur until 1994 when the current ANC party took control with Nelson Mandela as the new president. The ANC still holds the majority of the vote, claiming 60-70% of voters.

Have You Heard from Johannesburg? (2006)

Peter Magubane / Clarity Films

This film is actually a compilation of seven films lasting 8 and a half hours total and cover subjects of South Africa's history that include the apartheid period, the Int'l sports boycott and among many others.

The movie review caught my attention because I am a huge film lover and the subject seems interesting. The article also mentioned that most of the content is relatively unknown and new to Americans, which makes me really keen to see it.

Unfortunately, it's a small film, not widely available to the public. It's only viewable when it makes it's way to special film screenings around the country. The closest it comes to LA is San Francisco at Roxie Cinema in June. For screenings click here.

The following video is a small clip from the first installment entitled "Road to Resistance".

The film was Produced and directed by Connie Field; narration written by Jon Else; directors of photography, Tom Hurwitz and David Forbes; series edited by Gregory Scharpen, with additional editing by Ken Schneider and Dawn Lodgson; music by Marco D’Abbrosio and Todd Boekelheide; released by Clarity Films.

NY Times: Have You Heard from Johannesburg?(2006) Movie Review

Clarity Films: Have you heard from Johannesburg? webpage

NY Times: Have you heard from Johannesburg? article

Youth Leader, Julius Malema verbally abuses BBC reporter

Julius Malema is the 29-year-old President of the ANC Youth League who has been the subject of some controversy due to his racist and nationalistic comments.

Among many other incidents, Malema harassed a BBC reporter at the ANC Youth League Press Conference. Apparently Jonah Fisher, the BBC correspondent, made a remark that angered Malema causing him to accuse the reporter of "white tendencies" and demanding him to leave after he 'maturely' insulted the man's masculinity. See the video below for actual footage of the confrontation.

He has been an embarrassment for President Zuma, who apologized and reprimanded him in a statement to the press. Zuma also said that Malema will face consequences for his rash outbursts and immature language, but has yet to make any obvious show of punishment.

I find this behavior by a Youth Leader appalling. Malema is supposed to be a good example of an ANC member to the youth, but is ironically behaving like a child. Personally, If I was a member of the ANC I would be embarrassed he was in my party. In no way should a journalist be insulted like Fisher was that day. It's petty and absolutely ridiculous that it came from a rising political star in South Africa. What's funny is that Fisher had a very valid point and instead of answering it, Malema jumped to the bias news excuse. Challenging someone because they say something hypocritical is not agenda setting, it's what journalists do, we are watchdogs.

NY Times article: S. Africa President rebukes a disciple

South Africa White Supremacist Killed

*photo from blog.ctv news

Eugene TerreBlanche was the leader of the Afrikaner Resistance Movement formed in the 1970s and which opposed black rule.

TerreBlanche was hacked and bludgeoned to death after a dispute with two youths who worked on his farm. The violence occurred over a payment issue and was not an ethnic clash.

This gruesome murder has caused many to worry about the current state of racial tensions in the country. With the World Cup just a month away, President Zuma is assuring everyone of their safety.

To me, It's obvious this was a personal matter between his employees and not an act of racial violence. Therefore, it wouldn't make me worry about my safety attending the World Cup. I realize that TerreBlanche had his views and did some things that I don't personally agree with , but he's entitled to his view. It is possible that his views did lead to the employees acting more violent than they otherwise might have, but that's hard to prove.

LA Times article: South Africa white supremacist Eugene TerreBlanche killed

NY Times article: White supremacist is killed in South Africa