As the iconic sounds of the vuvuzela have left our living rooms, the 2010

World Cup in South Africa is well and truly over. When Spain lifted the trophy on July 11th, many of us returned to our daily rituals without football dominating our local television schedules. However, for many in South Africa, the end of the World Cup was hopefully the start of change, as the benefits of hosting one of the world’s biggest sporting competitions would start to surface and the legacy of South Africa 2010 would begin. This was particularly true for the South Africans living in the townships, who hoped that having the eyes of the world on their lives for a few weeks or so would bring social and economic change to their lives. And with so many South Africans living in such conditions, and just under 25% of the population living in poverty in the year 2008, the World Cup provided a great opportunity to help those who needed it the most.

 

In an earlier blog we discussed the thoughts of the Sibesonke community during the World Cup, and highlighted the optimism people held regarding the economic benefits the tournament could bring. We combined this with another survey, this time focusing on the realities of life after the tournament and looking at the actual economic results. Again, using our BOPinion tool, we found that the initial early optimism was not matched by reality, and there is at least some disappointment within the community about the impact brought by being World Cup hosts.

Mid-way through the tournament, 10.2% of survey participants said they had lost money during the World Cup. When we asked again at the end of the tournament, that figure had risen to just under 20%; 18.9% of participants had lost money on investments made due to the tournament. This is highlighted in the first chart.

Furthermore, when we initially asked about possibilities for making money there was great optimism regarding the economic opportunities that would be created during the World Cup. However, only just over 50% actually invested in the World Cup, and of those that did, as discussed above, about one-fifth lost money on the investment. This is shown in the second chart.

However, that does mean that about four-fifths enjoyed positive returns. In fact, it was a little over at 81.1%. Of those who did invest; the majority of money was made on hotels and guest houses, selling flags, taxi services, bars and restaurants, as well as other services. The results are shown in the third chart.

Although the World Cup did bring economic benefits to the Sibesonke community, it appears that the reality failed to match the initial expectations and hope. Can this be explained by a poor economic performance during the tournament? Or were initial expectations simply too high? The World Cup brought positive change to some, but for others, it failed to deliver the hope it promised and life continued as it always had. The BBC highlighted this with a report focusing on the legacy of South Africa 2010 and showed both the positive and negative impact the tournament had. And the legacy debate may long continue, but what is important is that our thoughts about South Africa do not fade now the football is over, like the sounds in our living rooms of the last blows of the vuvuzela.

At Sibesonke, we used our BOPinion tool to hear the voices of those people most difficult to reach, to uncover some of the truth behind the World Cup’s economic impact at the base of the pyramid. We asked our Sibesonke

community about two economic issues. Firstly we asked for their opinions during the tournament relating to money making opportunities, and then again once the tournament had finished, this time about the reality of their investments. The results provided great insight into the hopes and realities of the World Cup’s economic impact. This entry will discuss the thoughts of the community during the tournament, and our next blog will focus on the actual economic results to see if the initial optimism and hope that South Africans had was matched by actual reality.

 

We asked our community three questions. The first was whether money making opportunities would arise for South Africans during the World Cup. Over 90% said Yes! 94.9% to be precise. Just 5.1% thought that there would be no money making opportunities. Many people thought everyone would be able to make money, and there was a cautious minority who thought that money would be made, but only by large businesses.

Focusing more on individual experiences, we asked if our survey participants or their families had made money because of the world cup. These results shed a little light on the trend that initial optimism may not be matched reality. Just under half of those asked said they had not made any money. And just over 10% of all participants even said that they had lost money due to the World Cup. Well over half had had negative experiences based on their initial expectations. However, it was not all bad news as about 40% had made money during the tournament.

The third questioned focused on life after the World Cup, and more specifically on what will things be like once the closing ceremony is complete and the football is over. There was still a relatively large degree of optimism with about 40% thinking things will be better. But the majority thought things will either go back to how they were (about 40%), or that government spending will even be reduced (about 20%).

The full results are shown below.

The first soccer World Cup ever to be held in an African country will start in about 3 weeks. Massive construction has taken place for years now and those initial skeptical voices as to whether South Africa could build the needed infrastructure in time for the global event have calmed down a little.

But what about the less wealthy South Africans? Do they benefit from the Cup? Do they care about it at all as daily life has some bigger issues than soccer?

To increase understanding from any corner of the world on how life tastes in less wealthy South Africa, we asked the people themselves. Most South Africans, from rich to poor, certainly do care about the World Cup now more than ever before because they are proud their home country is hosting it. While national soccer has been much more relevant, the World Cup is now a sign of hope for economic benefits and South Africans are as soccer crazy as many other nations are.

When we asked our Sibesonke community months before the Cup - less wealthy, mostly black young people - what is the biggest social issue, the topics to choose from included social problems of such a massive scale, that they would be very hard to grasp for many Westerners. In our last blog, we showed how safe people feel and how much they trust in the local police. We haven't yet covered education or health challenges. For example, South Africa has the highest HIV penetration globally. All those social issues were on the list. And with such an impressive list of social issues to choose from, World Cup 2010 got still most votes. 37% believe the short term soccer tournament is a bigger (positive) issue than second ranked crime (22%).

General education came in third with 19% from over 2000 respondents. By the way, all schools will be closed during World Cup. This is exceptional because the tournament is scheduled for South African winter time. So, soccer wins over education even with governmental approval now.

The optimism is so high that it is not rational. The South African  Bafana Bafana team would not be part of the World Cup tournament if South Africa wasn't the hosting country this year. Still, more than two thirds (69%) answer the question 

"Which team will win the WorldCup2010?" with South Africa, before Brazil, Italy, Spain and also Germany. (No, I am not offended :-)

 Just for fun we also did a score prediction by our users for a local soccer cup - the Nedbank Cup. As you can see, the results were rather difficult to predict with 3 out of 4 games ending in a penalty shootout.

Will our users predict more accurately for matches at World Cup 2010?

A quick survey among our Sibesonke users gives deep insight into perceived crime among young, mostly black, South Africans:

43% of Sibesonke's users in South Africa answer "yes" to the question "Have you personally faced violence during the last year?"; 

a number unthinkable in countries like Finland from where I write this blog. Our team here in Finland has not personally faced violence for DECADES, but our team in South Africa indeed has! Three out of four do not feel safe walking outside alone at night. To my surprise there is almost no difference between rural and urban respondents. And only about half (52%) trust the local police where they live. 64% have had property or money stolen from them or their family during the last year. The type of house where people live neither affects the results. If living in a hut, on a farm, in townships, informal settlements or suburban areas, people alike feel unsafe and have little trust in the local police.

Note the survey respondents primarily represent young black South Africans, so these numbers do not represent all of South Africa. But what the results do make very clear is that crime affects the daily life of many among the less wealthy in South African; it's not just a threat to the rich and wealthy.

This is one taste of life for less wealthy South Africans, facts nobody likes, but people cope or simply have to cope with it. Sibesonke wants to give a voice to those difficult to reach in South African. And we believe people all over the world will show interest for them when they look at South Africa during the coming WorldCup2010. After all, they are still a large economic power. We use the new BOPinion research tool for event based market research. If you have questions let us know!

Question: Within the last 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member?

We have recently announced Sibesonke's new BOPinion tool to connect the less privileged of South Africa with the rest of the World. Ok ... maybe I am a bit too bold with this statement here? But we certainly have a unique opportunity to let the world know what the black mass opinion leaders of South Africa think - about their own country, their personal future, about social issues (to name them all is too long a list...) and now also about the coming Soccer World Cup 2010 in South Africa. With the Sibesonke blog, we have the chance to give you A Taste of Life in South Africa!