Giant soccer balls and national flags line the streets as South Africa counts down to the World Cup, but with two months to go until the games begin, fears about violence and racial strife linger.
As the June 11 opening match nears, Africa’s much-anticipated first World Cup is materializing in soccer fever with South Africans donning team jerseys, flying flags and a marketing onslaught by host cities.
But concerns about violence and racial tension in the crime-plagued country have re-emerged after the murder of a white far-right leader.
The killing of Eugene Terre’Blanche, allegedly hacked to death after a wage dispute on his farm, has focused new attention on violent crime and race tensions in South Africa after his supporters initially vowed revenge.
“It’s not going to happen,” local organizing committee chief Danny Jordaan said on Thursday.
The South African government, which has spent 33 million rands (US$4.5 million) on the tournament, hopes to give a boost to the country’s image, luring foreign tourists and investment.
It is also counting on the event to build national unity in a country that still bears the scars of apartheid 16 years after the end of the segregationist regime.
On Thursday next week, South Africans will for the first time be able to buy match tickets at sales windows instead of online, coming away with tickets in hand.
World Cup banners and soccer jerseys have become ubiquitous, and street vendors’ stalls are dripping with soccer gear.
Adding to the air of celebration, FIFA announced last month that the June 10 opening concert in Johannesburg will feature such international celebrities as Shakira, Alicia Keys and the Black Eyed Peas.
Recently, national flags have been flying from car windows even in white neighborhoods, where soccer has never been popular, and giant inflated soccer balls have dotted host cities.
But South Africa has in recent months seen scores of violent protests over shoddy public services in poor neighborhoods and violence over a new bus networks to overhaul long-neglected public transport ahead of the tournament.
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