'African. World class. No distinction." Those are the words Fifa 2010 World Cup chief executive Danny Jordaan uses often when he envisages what the tournament in South Africa will be like in four years' time.
They are also words which quite fittingly describe the new communications manager for the SA 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC), Tumi Makgabo.
Makgabo made a name for herself locally as a newsreader for the SABC, before moving on to become a prime-time CNN anchor for five years in the competitive American television market.
She pulled off the CNN job with aplomb and was an accomplished ambassador who showed just what South Africans are capable of internationally.
Publicly, anyway, Jordaan has been a one-man publicity machine
Still, Makgabo's appointment - directly by Jordaan - as 2010 communications manager came as a surprise and has raised a few eyebrows.
Makgabo, after all, has no previous football-related experience and is
operating in a politically charged environment that often makes the
likes of Zumagate seem like child's play.
Given her profile,
Makgabo's appointment was always going to come in for some scrutiny,
but in an interview with The Star in Johannesburg this week she gave
the impression that it could be a shrewd appointment.
If there's
a criticism that can be levelled at SA's 2010 LOC, it's that since
South Africa was announced as World Cup host last year, the LOC has
been deadly quiet and information about preparations for the event has
filtered out in drips and drabs.
Publicly, anyway, Jordaan has
been a one-man publicity machine, and, given his hectic schedule, that
machine has ground information out very slowly.
'It's important that we hold our heads high as a country and say we did it'
Even when the 2010 World Cup venues were released, they were sprung without warning on an unsuspecting public.
Makgabo,
who stressed that hers is a temporary appointment up for review at the
end of the year, acknowledges that communication has been one of the
LOC's biggest failings.
"We have not been able to give people a
lot of information. There has not been an awful lot of information to
provide. Once we found out we got it (the World Cup), people wanted to
see action immediately.
"But we've now signed the host-cities
agreement and we're hoping to start having regular conversations with
the media and the public.
"In terms of me as Tumi Makgabo, my agreement with the LOC is an interim one - it's not through to 2010.
"They've
asked me to help out with a number of things, such as the unveiling of
South Africa's 2010 emblem during the German World Cup. I will also
look at how we can provide access to information to a number of people
on a number of levels, such as looking at corporate opportunities and
how they can be utilised, as well as looking at Joe Bloggs, who wants
to know what's happening," said Makgabo.
She is under no
illusion about the enormity of the task that lies ahead but is also
confident in SA's ability to host a successful, memorable World Cup.
"South
Africa, or Africa for that matter, has never hosted anything of this
magnitude before. It's a huge but exciting project. But people are
champing at the bit, saying 'We're ready, we're ready, we're ready'.
That's great.
"There's such enthusiasm and I'm convinced we
have the expertise and a broad enough pool of people to help us steer
the bumpy road that this is going to be," she said.
For now,
infrastructure is the most pressing World Cup priority, and the
construction phase needs to start sooner rather than later.
The
LOC, however, still has to get the right people in place to address
issues such as telecommunications, information technology, safety and
security, transport, accommodation and ticketing.
Makgabo
estimates that about 200 people will eventually be employed by the 2010
LOC, but a little worryingly, just a month before Germany 2006, several
directors' positions advertised weeks ago have yet to be filled.
Still,
Makgabo stresses the importance of "getting the right mechanisms and
structures in place" to guide what will be a difficult process.
Having
worked in America for a considerable length of time, she knows the
skewed perceptions foreigners have of "darkest Africa" and feels the
2010 World Cup will provide an opportunity to put a few of those warped
perceptions to rest once and for all.
"There's the age-old
question of 'it's Africa, what can Africa do?' People immediately think
we don't have phones. We don't have radios. That it's difficult to get
from one city to the other and that we live in perpetual fear. That we
don't understand technology or the global corporate environment. That
we're at any moment about to erupt into civil war. That kind of
thinking is fundamentally damaging.
"The 2010 World Cup
provides a chance to show what's going on in South Africa and to show
that, yes, there's wildlife and game farms, but that there's also all
these other things we have to offer.
"That's exciting, to
engage people at that level. I know we can do it. That we can have a
successful World Cup, dare I say it, the best one ever," said Makgabo.
And,
in addition to the outside world, she feels the World Cup will also
provide South Africans with a gamut of opportunities and a chance to
take renewed pride in their country.
"What is really exciting
for me is, yes, it's football in 2010, but it also provides such a huge
opportunity for us as a country. Social development, the building of
networks within communities that will continue beyond 2010.
"It's
in our best interests that we do it right. It's important that we hold
our heads high as a country and say we did it, we rose to expectations
and we exceeded them," Makgabo added.
This article was originally published on page 6 of The Star on May 02, 2006
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