Science Across Cultures
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South Africa hosts a successful FIFA World Cup – now for the 6SCWC!
South Africa has successfully hosted the biggest sporting event in the world, the 2010 FIFA Football World Cup. This complex event, comprising 64 games and a multitude of subsidiary events, went off without any hitches and has broken all previous records with respect to attendance at live games, at ‘Fan Fests’ (formal outdoor giant screenings with live entertainment) and at ‘Fan Jols’ (less formal giant screenings).
The South African President, Jacob Zuma, believes that the legacy of hosting the tournament will benefit the African continent for decades. “The Rainbow Nation has exceeded all expectations in its hosting of the tournament. This has been an important component for our nation building. It is for the first time in South Africa that we have seen this Rainbow Nation really coming together in a manner we have not witnessed before. For the first time, I have noticed that every South African is now flying our national flag. Everybody is just crazy about this tournament, both black and white.
This has proved to the world that we are capable of hosting any international event, we have the resources and infrastructure. People are already talking about a possibility of bidding for major events and we are supporting this. The Olympics are an example, I don't see why we can't bid to host the Olympics in the future. It's important for Africa.”
According to the South African Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, the tournament's benefits include not only its economic legacy; the event would also help the country increase its delivery capacity while demonstrating to the world its ability to host major events. He said that current projections were that the tournament will add 0.4 percent to South Africa's real gross domestic product (GDP). "What this actually means is that about R38-billion will be added to the GDP as a result of the World Cup." South Africa's government spent more than R33-billion over a period of four years on infrastructure and preparation for the World Cup, Gordhan said.
Close to R12-billion was spent on stadium infrastructure, R11-billion on transport infrastructure, and R1.5-billion on event broadcast and telecommunications. "This infrastructure we have built is not short-term infrastructure that you build today and destroy tomorrow. We have increased the productivity of the people of South Africa, and all of that is part of our development and long-term planning for our country.
"Today, we have earned the reputation of a country that can actually deliver, and that is good for future growth," Gordhan said, adding that the event had helped to bring an end to the Afro-pessimism that had dominated foreign media for years. “All the Afro-pessimism we are accustomed to is now being replaced by a high level of trust and confidence, which is good for attracting foreign investors and visitors to our country.”
If we can host a successful FIFA World Cup, we can also host a successful 6th Science Centre World Congress. As one of the World Cup songs says, “Come on Africa, show us how you do it!”
Let’s use the FIFA World Cup as a springboard for a highly successful 6SCWC – visit our website at www.6swc.org to submit your session proposals or join our mailing list to be notified on the opening of registration.
Reminder | Call for Sessions Deadline| 31 August 2010
All session proposals must be submitted no later than 31 August 2010, using the electronic session proposal form available on the 6SCWC website here.
Click here to download the Call for Sessions document for full information, including proposal requirements and descriptions of the sub-themes and session formats.
Click here to submit a session proposal online.
We’re looking forward to hosting you!
Mike Bruton
Chair: International Programme Committee, 6SCWC
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