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SA savouring SWC success

Cape Town – As Spain dreams of winning its first world cup on Sunday, South Africa is relishing the final days of the soccer extravaganza with a near clean sheet as hosts and hopes of cashing in on its slicked-up image.

Fund managers reported a flow of investment to Africa this week after four weeks of soccer that turned all eyes to the continent but saved the major upsets for the field.

"People are sitting in Denmark and France and the UK saying, 'That stadium looks a hell of a lot better than anything we've got here, and it looks like it works and everybody's still alive'," John Mackie, head of African investments at Stanlib, told Business Day.

"There is no question it is changing perceptions."

Like goals from Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney, a widely-expected crime siege on tourists did not materialise.

"A cataclysmic wave of violent crime in South Africa, the fear of so many world cup killjoys, has simply not occurred. No wave, barely a ripple," the New York Times reported.

"The criminals have put in a more indifferent showing than even the French players."

Dedicated World Cup courts

Since late May, 54 fast-track World Cup courts with their 1 000 dedicated prosecutors and 100 foreign language translators have heard just over 170 cases.

They ranged from robbery punished with 12 years in prison to Paris Hilton's brief appearance for allegedly smoking a joint while watching Brazil play Holland in Port Elizabeth, to the strange case of an Italian who leapt up from a wheel chair and ran onto the field during Wednesday's semi-final in Durban.

On Saturday, British tabloid reporter Simon Wright goes on trial charged with conspiring to cast South Africa's security arrangements in a bad light by allegedly getting Londoner Pavlos Joseph to enter England's dressing room at the Cape Town Stadium and accost David Beckham.

The case is dividing public opinion. Some feel he deserves 15 years in jail, others fear the authorities are scoring an own goal.

"He made a fool of the country's so-called 'security' arrangements. And now the country is making a bigger fool of itself by the vindictive prosecution of a trespasser...," wrote "Tackler" on the Times Live news website.

As Spain and the Netherlands take to the field at Soccer City in Johannesburg, Wright's fate is likely to be a footnote to a tense final for which all 94 490 tickets were sold out by Thursday.

Airports Company South Africa has vowed to tow private jets off the runway at OR Tambo on Sunday, if they refuse to make way for commercial flights to avoid a repeat of the logjam in Durban on Wednesday, the busiest day in the country's aviation history.

Organisational embarrassment

About 700 ticket-holders were late for Spain's 1-0 semi-final dismissal of Germany and some missed the entire match in the first major organisational embarrassment of the world cup.

Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele was forced to apologise and promised to "strengthen... private aircraft operator facilitation plans for the remainder of the world cup".

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa vowed to crack down on xenophobia amid speculation that attacks on foreigners could flare in the aftermath of the event. But he dismissed reports that workers from neighbouring nations were fleeing the country in fear, as "hysteria".

These were seasonal workers returning home, he said.

"Our security agencies are prepared to effectively deal with violence against anyone, including foreign nationals," Mthethwa said.

"Should anything be found to be credible, measures will be implemented immediately to prevent any outbreak of violence."

Earlier in the week, President Jacob Zuma declared the tournament had improved Africa's image and united South Africans like never before as black and white rallied first behind Bafana Bafana, and then Ghana's thwarted Black Stars.

Social benefits

"The social benefits are priceless. We have seen remarkable unity, patriotism and solidarity being displayed by South Africans, which has never been witnessed before."

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said the tournament would add R38bn to the economy this year, more than recovering the state's infrastructure investment, and estimated that the cup had drawn half a million foreigners to the country.

FIFA confirmed that on Wednesday night match attendance shot past the three million mark, making this only the third world cup after those in the United States in 1994 and Germany in 2006 to reach this figure.

Fifteen African heads of state are due at the final including, controversially, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Former president Nelson Mandela might make his first appearance at the match after missing the opening.

The tournament provided its own unique export in the vuvuzela, with 40 000 sold in Britain, and Polish trade union Solidarity expressing interest in using them to liven up protests.

It found its undisputed villain in Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, whose handball robbed Ghana of a historic place in the semi-finals, and an oracle in Paul, an octopus in a German zoo.

Paul managed six spot-on predictions on Germany's fortunes, including their defeat by Spain.

But Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian called for the creature to be given an urgent free transfer to Spain to "ensure his protection" from vengeful German fans.
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