Poor look for World Cup's benefits in stadium shadows

The impoverished township of Mataffin sits in the shadows of Nelspruit's new 141-million-dollar Mbombela Stadium, now silent as the World Cup winds down.

At a tin-roof bar across the road, residents sit with their backs to the stadium, held up by support beams modeled on giraffes, to watch matches on television.

A wire security fence and an economic gulf put ticket prices beyond their reach, even for matches in their backyard.

"I would like to go there, but because of my finances I'm nothing," said Percy Ngomane, a 35-year-old mechanic.

As Sunday's final between the Netherlands and Spain approaches, South Africa is adding up the gains of hosting the first World Cup in Africa.

Independent analysts say the country has raked in 8.8 billion rands (917 million euros) in tourism revenue and bought itself invaluable marketing exposure that will boost its international profile for years to come.

But some question how widespread the benefits have been.

South Africa invested five billion dollars in its World Cup preparations, a figure that has drawn complaints in a country where about 40 per cent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.

In Durban, 3,000 people embarrassed tournament organisers last month by holding a march to protest World Cup spending.

"If we have money for stadiums, we should not have any homeless people or people having to live in shacks," said protest organiser Allan Murphy.

Competition for scarce jobs has raised worries that anti-immigrant attacks could flare after the tournament, in an echo of the violence that erupted in May 2008 when 62 people were killed.

Community groups report anti-foreigner sentiment rising again, mainly due to tensions over local political posts and business opportunities.

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan has said he believed South Africa's investment in the World Cup had paid off, but many small traders say the windfall did not filter to them.

"I sold a cow to buy merchandise before the World Cup," said Kwenzekile Nzama, a 54-year-old vendor who sells baskets and masks near Durban's seaside fan park, where half a million visitors watched the tournament.

"I'm crying over this. It's been very bad. Customers aren't coming to see the merchandise."

Ms Nzama blamed FIFA for banning vendors from fan parks and stadiums, where the football governing body has strict commercial rules protecting its corporate partners.

"This fence was very bad for business," she said, pointing to a wire security fence around the fan park that, like the one dividing Mataffin from Nelspruit's stadium, has had the side-effect of limiting interaction between overseas fans and impoverished locals.

"The improvement is for that side, not for this side," said 18-year-old Zanele Mathebula, pointing to the glow of stadium lights across the road from her house in Mataffin.

"I've never even been to the stadium and I'm staying here. They said there were going to be opportunities for jobs, but there's none," she said. "There's nothing that the people have gained."

Hendrik Lukhele, a 27-year-old Mataffin resident who was a construction worker on the stadium, had a more positive view.

"I feel proud because I see now that what we were hoping for is happening. I've built it myself," he said.

But Lukhele acknowledged there is more work to be done in his township.

"Now there's a stadium. Maybe our government next time is going to build infrastructure in our location. Our next government must build houses for the people here," he said.