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Well, the dust has settled and, setting aside all the on-field tragedies and triumphs, it is safe to say that Johannesburg succeeded where even many of its supports thought it would fail: Security.
Hundreds of thousands came to Johannesburg for arguably the world’s largest sporting event and came away with largely positive feelings for Johannesburg, South Africa, and the World Cup. There were crimes, of course, and for the victims it was serious, but overall this was nothing compared to what was generally feared. There is even suggestions that S. Africa continue its crime crackdown.
The post-event reviews praise S. Africa for its organization and hospitality. This is still a country struggling to deal with many problems. And, though not always succeeding, it does appear that it is trying to deal with them, (sometimes too slowly: it was only last year that the president acknowledged the seriousness AIDS-HIV). Africa is a greatly troubled continent, the problems are so complex, intertwined and bewildering, that it is a sensible inclination is to simply give up. But then along came the World Cup to remind us that we shouldn’t.
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