Press Release

2010: South Africans are showing support!

BRYANSTON – Optimism around South Africa’s readiness for the 2010 World Cup has taken an upward turn and South Africans are showing their support for 2010 preparation. This is according to market research company, African Response. These results correspond closely with those released by FIFA at the 500-day countdown celebration.

African Response’s 2010 Barometer measures the nation’s awareness and opinions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, reflecting the views of 1,200 South Africans representative of the nation in terms of race, gender and region. The first reading was taken in March 2004 and since then the full results are released every three months. Overall confidence has jumped by 6% from the last reading (November 2008).

However, opinions do vary across the country. The buzz is greatest in Johannesburg - 86% saying that South Africa will be ready to take on 2010, an impressive 7% increase from the last measure. Durban is also up there with 83% of residents expressing their confidence (a 4% increase) and Pretoria up from 62% to 71%. Even Cape Town, historically less confident, has gone up from 55% to 61% between this measure and the last.

With South Africa’s significant investment in infrastructure and highly visible progress of the various developments, African Response asked South Africans to express their opinions on the readiness of various areas of South Africa’s infrastructure.

Highway construction is an all too familiar sight when driving around South Africa at the moment and this seems to have contributed to a jump in confidence in our roads being ready in time. This was most significant in Cape Town (56%) which went up by an astounding 23%. Capetonians are possibly becoming more aware of the increased amount of developments taking place on their roads.

South Africans have shown more faith in our public transport system being ready to cope with the demands of 2010. Cape Town has shown the most drastic increase in confidence from 46% to 68%. Whether it is the newfound confidence in our roads or the exciting development of the Gautrain, Johannesburg showed the second highest leap from 70% to 82%. Pretoria and Durban also had more confidence in our transport system being ready for 2010, increasing by 7% and 2% respectively.

The percentage of South Africans believing we will be able to meet electricity demands in 2010 has slowly increased with each reading since June 2008. This is probably a result of an end to load-shedding which raised panic earlier last year. Again, Cape Town showed the highest increase from 26% to 47%.

South Africans have more faith in our policing and security since the last measure. There was a general increase across all income groups, genders, age groups and a significant increase across all racial groups with Coloured South Africans showing the highest increase (36% to 57%).

Will the following components of South Africa’s infrastructure be ready to cope with the demands of the 2010 FIFA world cup?
Respondents who agree or strongly agree	Nov 2008 (n = 1200)	Jan 2009 (n = 1200)
Restaurants across the country will be ready?	90%	89%
The Telecommunications infrastructure will be ready?	80%	77%
The Information Technology infrastructure will be ready?	76%	75%
Airports will be ready for the influx visitors?	79%	81%
South Africa’s roads will be ready?	56%	69%
Public transport across the country will be ready?	61%	72%
Electricity will meet demands?	41%	55%
The new stadia which are being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be ready in time?	73%	78%
Will Policing and Security be ready?	55%	65%
Accommodation across the country will be ready?	82%	83%
	©African Response 2009

South Africans are showing confidence that our country is ready to host this prestigious sporting event but are they truly in tune with this sport?

Forty-four (44%) of South Africans have personally attended a soccer match in the past two years. When asked whether they were likely to attend at least one of the 2010 matches, 53% said that they would be there. Eighty-five percent (85%) of South Africans said that they would most likely watch some of the soccer matches on TV. South Africans aged 50+ are least likely to be watching the matches on TV and also showed the greatest decrease from 82% down to 67%.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of South Africans say that South Africa will benefit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

How important is 2010 to South Africans on a personal level?
Four-fifths (78%) of South Africans say that 2010 is important to them personally. Keeping with the trend from previous measurements, younger age groups place more importance on this event. Those aged between 16 to 24 years placed the most personal importance in the event at 83% (up from 79%) and 25 to 34 year olds showed an increase from 79% to 81%. Seventy-six (76%) of 35 to 49 year olds said that it was important to them personally and South Africans aged 50 and over showed a decrease from 62% to 55%.

Will Bafana Bafana be ready?
South Africans are showing more faith in our national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, with 49% saying that they will be ready, an 11% increase from the last measure.

Who is Zakumi?

African Response asked South Africans about the 2010 FIFA World Cup Mascot, Zakumi.

Only 33% of South Africans have seen the 2010 FIFA World Cup mascot. But the good news is that of those who did see the mascot, 90% said that they like it.

So where did they spot Zakumi?

Where did you see the 2010 FIFA World Cup mascot, Zakumi?
Medium	Yes
TV	18%
Print (Newspaper or magazine)	76%
Magazine	92%
Outdoor (Print or Billboards)	99%
Online (websites, blogs etc)	99%
Promotions(in store, branding on products)	97%
Events	99%
Other	93%
	Base = 133 African Response 2009

- Ends -

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About the African Response 2010 Barometer:

African Response’s 2010 Barometer has been tracking the nation’s confidence in South Africa’s readiness for 2010 since March 2006 and each month a 2010 related topical question is posed.

November’s results represent the views of 400 respondents interviewed in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town in August this year. The full African Response Barometer is released on a quarterly basis. Previous reports can be found at www.africanresponse.co.za

About African Response

African Response is the most empowered, black owned, black managed research agency in South Africa. Established in an equity relationship with Synovate we offer a full complement of research skills.

African Response prides itself upon an exceptional ability to understand and interpret the needs of the South African black urban and rural consumer. We offer clients customized qualitative and quantitative research, innovative ideas and practical solutions. African Response’s vision is to significantly improve clients’ business performance and to achieve excellence through utilization of the wide knowledge and experience of our partners.

 

More information can be found at www.africanresponse.co.za