BRYANSTON – 71% of South Africans say "yes, we will be ready to host the 2010 FIFA World cup!" – This is according to market research company African Response.
Uncovering the nation’s views on our preparation for 2010, African Response’s latest 2010 Barometer polled 1200 respondents representative of the South African population in terms of race, gender and region.
As a nation, we are certainly expressing a high level of optimism in South Africa’s readiness to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup but how does this differ between the regions?
Durban is clearly the most confident of regions, with 82% of Durbanites agreeing that South Africa will be ready. This is an impressive increase of 8% from the last measurement.
Johannesburg, on the other hand, showed significant drop from 82% to 70% between this measurement and the last. This negativity could have been stimulated by the recent interest rate hikes, petrol price increases and power cuts – a triplet of pessimistic impact which is felt most intensely in this financial hub.
Cape Town dropped from 62% to 59% between this measurement and the last, positioning this region as the least optimistic overall.
South Africa has already implemented and is currently undergoing an immense amount of preparation ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This includes areas such as transport, telecommunications, travel and tourism, policing and security etc. African Response’s 2010 Barometer asked respondents to express their confidence in our progress around these various developments.
How is our infrastructure holding up ahead of 2010?
The shortage of electricity supply, leading to increased loadshedding has had a considerable impact on the country’s confidence in our ability to power the 2010 FIFA World Cup games. The latest 2010 Barometer has shown that only 36% of respondents believe that we will meet electricity demands in 2010. This is a notable drop of 16% from the last measurement’s 52%.
Overall, 76% of South Africans believe that our airports will be ready to cope with the influx of visitors in 2010. Respondents in Johannesburg were the most confident (85%), although they did display a 6% drop from the last measurement. Durban respondents are clearly more satisfied with the country’s airports compared to the last measurement, showing an increase from 79% in the last measurement to 84% in this measurement. Capetonians expressed the lowest level of enthusiasm in this regard, dropping from 67% to 63% between this measurement and the last.
The majority (62%) of South Africans agree that South Africa’s roads will be ready by 2010. Johannesburg was most positive about the roads being ready (74%) followed by Durban (72%) an increase of 4% from the last measurement. Dropping 5% from the last measure, 59% of respondents in Pretoria believe that our roads are in good shape for 2010. Cape Town had the most negative perception of South Africa’s roads (43%), dropping from 51% in the last measure.
South Africans (with the exception of Durbanites) are feeling slightly less secure compared to the last measurement when it comes to the preparation of our policing and security for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Cape Town was once again the least confident of regions with 39% feeling assured about the preparation of our policing and security, a slight drop from the last measure (41%). Pretoria displayed an 11% drop from the last measure with 42% and Johannesburg dropped by 4% to 62% between this measurement and the last.
In contrast, Durban is certainly supportive of our policing and security going up by an outstanding 14% from the last measure to 74%.
Will the following components of South Africa’s infrastructure be ready to cope with the demands of the 2010 FIFA world cup? |
Respondents answering “yes” |
| Jan 08
(n = 1200) |
Apr 08
(n = 1200) |
Electricity will meet demands? |
52% |
36% |
Airports will be ready for the influx visitors? |
78% |
76% |
South Africa’s roads will be ready? |
64% |
62% |
Policing and security will be ready? |
55% |
55% |
Public transport across the country will be ready? |
63% |
63% |
The new stadia which are being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be ready in time? |
69% |
70% |
Restaurants across the country will be ready? |
87% |
84% |
The Telecommunications infrastructure will be ready? |
78% |
76% |
The Information Technology infrastructure will be ready? |
77% |
76% |
Accommodation across the country will be ready? |
82% |
82% |
How important is the 2010 FIFA World cup to South Africans?
It is obvious that the 2010 FIFA World Cup holds a great deal of importance to our nation as a whole but how much value does it hold to the individual South African on a more personal level?
On a personal level, most South Africans can relate to the importance of this prestigious event (77%) and while its significance remains high, this is a 5% drop from the last measure.
Looking at the importance of 2010 to the individual by profile, African Response reveals further insights into how various factors affect the perceptions of South Africans.
Fewer worries for the wealthy? Not necessarily...
In the latest measurement, optimism in South Africa’s ability to host a successful 2010 FIFA World Cup has been shown to decrease as household income increases.
Here a connection can be made between the significance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to the individual and their household income. Higher income earning households may feel less enthusiastic about our readiness (67%) compared to lower income earning households since they find the event less important on a personal level (69%).
How do South Africans rate Bafana Bafana?
The recent improvements in match results seem to have enhanced the country’s faith in the team being ready to take on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 51% of South Africans believe that Bafana Bafana will be ready, a slight increase from the last measure (48%).
With the recent news of Carlos Parreira having resigned from his position as Bafana Bafana’s coach, it will be interesting to see whether this impacts the nation’s future optimism. Also sure to influence on confidence in our national team, will be their performance in the upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches.
A make or break - How do South Africans feel about the media’s role leading up to 2010?
In this month’s topical question pertaining to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, African Response asked respondents about their views on the media’s role in this important event.
Sixty percent (60%) of South Africans agreed that the media’s role in the build up to, as well as during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, should not be to make or break the success of the event. Only 26% of respondents disagreed with this, while the rest remained unsure.
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