<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Brazil and Spain recorded the first two monkeypox-related deaths outside Africa Friday, as governments try to combat the disease as it spreads rapidly through Europe and the Americas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



The Spanish Health Ministry did not disclose the age, sex or medical history of the individual, although Brazilian officials said the man who died in South America was a 41-year-old man who also suffered from lymphoma and a weakened immune system,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-confirms-its-first-monkeypox-related-death-2022-07-29/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reuters</a>&nbsp;reported.



The five previous monkeypox-related deaths this year all occurred in Africa, where the disease has spread for decades, although it was largely ignored.



Spain has 4,298 confirmed monkeypox cases, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sanidad.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/alertaMonkeypox/docs/Informe_de_situacion_MPX_20220729.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spanish Health Ministry</a>, including 120 patients who have been hospitalized.



he&nbsp;<a href="https://shiny.pahobra.org/monkeypox/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pan American Health Organization</a>&nbsp;reports Brazil has 978 confirmed cases as of Friday.



U.S. cases have spiked over the past month, reaching 4,907 as of Friday, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.



The deaths come less than a week after the World Health Organization declared the disease a global health emergency.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The deaths come as countries across Europe and the Americas race to boost vaccinations. Monkeypox, which is similar to smallpox, has spread for decades in parts of Africa, but gained a foothold in Europe and North America over the past several months, where the vast majority of cases have been in men who have sex with men. Monkeypox spreads through close physical contact and usually only causes mild symptoms. It is “contagious, painful and it can be dangerous,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said, with symptoms that include rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes. There are no reported monkeypox deaths in the U.S.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



HHS secured another 786,000 doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine Thursday, adding to 338,000 doses that have already been distributed, as the federal government contends with vaccine shortages and spiking cases across the country. The 786,000 doses will be distributed over the next several weeks, Becerra said at a press conference Thursday, bringing the total number of available vaccine doses to roughly 1.1 million.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/07/23/who-calls-monkeypox-a-global-health-emergency/?sh=510157b8392a">WHO Calls Monkeypox A Global Health Emergency</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2022/07/26/us-monkeypox-jump-33-percent-risk-low-travelers/?sh=12a162c26aad">U.S. Monkeypox Cases Jump 33% In 3 Days—But Risk Is Low For Most Travelers, Say Health Experts</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/07/18/struggling-to-find-a-monkeypox-shot-severe-shortages-and-technical-mishaps-are-slowing-down-rollouts/?sh=53717fbee018">Struggling To Find A Monkeypox Shot? Severe Shortages And Technical Mishaps Are Slowing Down Rollouts&nbsp;</a>(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/07/22/monkeypox-vaccine-gets-thumbs-up-from-eu-regulator-amid-race-to-improve-access/?sh=5331898317c6">Monkeypox Vaccine Gets Thumbs Up From EU Regulator Amid Race To Improve Access</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



By Brian Bushard, Forbes Staff

Indonesia Take Precautions Against Monkeypox Virus

Brazil And Spain Report First Monkeypox Deaths Outside Africa

This South African DJ and entrepreneur is never home-sick when in Brazil. He says its food and music fill his soul. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



After traveling the world and the concomitant culinary
outings that come with it, kwaito (South African music genre) pioneer, DJ and
businessman Oscar Bonginkosi Mdlongwa, popularly known as Oskido, counts Brazil
his most favorite overseas destination. 



In enjoying the fruits of his success, Oskido has come far.



He was born in Brits, a large town irrigated by the waters
of the Hartbeespoort Dam in the North West Province of South Africa. 



His childhood was in Bulawayo, a city in the southwest of
Zimbabwe, before returning to South Africa to pursue a career in music in 1988.




His influences may be primarily South African and
Zimbabwean, but the South American country is what he regales about when we
meet him in late November last year.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



“What amazed me the most was the food. I have traveled all
over the world but the way they cook their food and the way they love their
food stunned me,” says Oskido. 



The memories are still fresh.



In September last year, Mdlongwa had traveled to the
centrally-located capital of Brazil, Brasilia, on a cultural exchange program
between Brazil and South Africa. 



During our interview, he also compliments the city’s culture
and the friendliness of its people.



“When I come back to my country [South Africa] after
traveling, I just want our food. When I start going to Europe, I think of home,
missing the food, but when I went to Brazil, it was like I’m home.”



He goes on to elucidate that they have their own traditional
way of cooking, which includes beans that he enjoys the most. 



Oskido especially appreciates Brazil’s restaurants because
of the different meat cuts they serve customers. 



“They will bring you a paper and describe the part that you
are eating. Also, their way of cooking is healthy,” he says.



“We normally just eat and say ‘rump’; you don’t even know
where it’s coming from. Therefore, they come in and you keep eating different
cuts until you find the one you like and they will keep feeding you until you
are full.



“What amazed me the most is when you get to our [local] food
courts, you will find all these chain stores. It’s the same thing [there], but
there isn’t anything that is like a buffet. Their food courts are designed that
way, there isn’t any of the junk food,” says Oskido.



He speaks about connecting to the people despite the
language barrier. He remembers going to a shopping center to buy things and
having to explain. 



He would speak on the phone with a translator and
communication would be delayed. 



But he found his own comfort zone. 



Whenever he talked about music, he says there would be an
instant connection with the people.



Oskido was invited by the South African Minister of Arts and
Culture Nathi Mthethwa as a delegate for the exchange program. 



“The minister and his office went to a school of kids aged
between four and five years old. The kids were told to look for a song on
YouTube that resembled Africa. Coincidently, they found Tsa Mandebele as the
song of choice. I found that these kids could sing along to my song and dance
to the moves because of the music video,” he says, joyfully. 



“It was good to see a Limpopo language [song] sung in
Brazil. That was the moment when I was really touched, and felt that there was
something about Brazil.



“After the festive season, I want to go back, take my family
and go relax.” 



These are the notes from the South African DJ who has gone
from Brits to Brazil.

oskido

Executive Travel: Oskido’s Brazil

Analysts predict BRICS could become as big as the Group 7 by 2027. Can the BRICS nations effectively come together promoting inclusiveness, trade and technological collaboration?

The recurring question at the three-day BRICS summit in July, which brought some of the planet’s most powerful leaders to Africa’s richest square mile Sandton, was the importance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) when it comes to inter-trade. So what happens next?
The 4IR, like the three revolutions preceding it, has disrupted economies and societies around the globe. In many instances, developing countries have been left behind, perpetuating the exclusion of the past rooted in colonialism and exploitation.
The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), who are aware of the enormous hurdles, used the gathering in Johannesburg to issue a clarion call for united and concerted action for the impending revolution.
Host president Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa – which is the current chair of BRICS – said the 4IR presents the world with opportunities and should be embraced.
“As the BRICS forum, we can neither ignore, nor take for-granted, the reality that is the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the impact that it will have on the global economy. There is no area of economic activity that is immune from technological disruption.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_37173" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37173" class="wp-image-37173 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="493" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL.jpg 1241w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo by Gypseenia Lion</div>
&nbsp;
<blockquote> “It [The Fourth Industrial Revolution] has the potential to solve many of the social problems we face, by better equipping us to combat disease, hunger and environmental degradation.”</blockquote>
The 10th summit, hosted in South Africa for a second time, was held from July 25 to 27. It brought together a galaxy of delegates, government officials, business people and the media at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Roads were barricaded amid heavy police and military presence, with strict no-flying zones applied as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, among some of the world’s most reclusive leaders, spent a night or two under African skies.
Under the theme, ‘BRICS in Africa: collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution’, the focus of the summit was issues and solutions to achieve inclusive growth through collaboration.
Technology, big data and innovation were amongst the most operative words. Ramaphosa set the agenda by highlighting the role technology will play years from now.
“The technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution provide developing and emerging economies with the opportunity to leapfrog the technologies of the preceding revolutions.
“It aims to translate the vision of the second decade of BRICS cooperation into reality through deepened cooperation on industrialization, innovation, inclusiveness and investment,” he said.
India’s Prime minister, Narendra Modi, emphasized the need for shared policies and collaboration in order to unlock the opportunities of the future.
But, he added, the consequences of the revolution may be difficult to predict.
“Whatever happens will be far-reaching. We need to discuss how we will prepare for it. Traditionally, manufacturing will continue being a source of jobs for our youth. We need to make changes in our approach and make sure that schools prepare our youth for the changes,” said Modi.
The BRICS Youth Forum started off as an idea during a meeting between the heads of the five states in South Africa in 2014.
Encouraging dialogue with regard to youth policies and employment, the forum has notched some progress.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/09/10/why-we-need-hard-cash-into-the-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Why We Need ‘Hard Cash In The Economy</a>
South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor, said the youth forum consolidated a set of messages that was to be sent to the BRICS leaders.
“The youth have begun to speak, they believe BRICS should be a solid formation and they have ideas on how the youth should collaborate to ensure that the BRICS idea is not just the idea of our generation but one that exists in perpetuity,” she said.
As argued by the South African Minister of Science and Technology, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, collaboration between the youth from the five states will take the form of what she called “young researchers’ exchange”.
For Kubayi-Ngubane,“the inclusion of young people especially with regard to new tech and innovations should be prioritized as much as  the formal trade collaboration.
“Innovation [is] becoming the cornerstone for our economy going forward,” she told FORBES AFRICA.
<div id="attachment_37174" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37174" class="wp-image-37174 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-1024x681.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="492" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />(left to right) India&#8217;s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of China Xi Jinping, South Africa&#8217;s President Cyril Ramaphosa, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the President of Brazil Michel Temer. Photo by Karen Mwendera.</div>
The BRICS countries, which account for 40% of the world’s population, have not been laggards with regard to technological advancements, with the World Economic Forum noting in 2016 that four of them – South Africa, Brazil, China and Russia – are in the top 100 list of countries with the latest technologies.
The President of BRICS’ New Development Bank, K V Kamath, says that some of their big investments “include power, port and renewable power”.
Analysts predict that BRICS could become as influential as the Group 7 (the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy) by 2027.
Therefore, the collaboration of BRICS nations is a key strategy to strengthen not just political powers but technological capabilities as well.
However, this collaboration calls for the redefinition of borders and going against the norms of sovereignty.
During the summit, emphasis was placed on establishing open economies. This would help foster easier trade between BRICS countries.
Within the hallways of the convention center, presidents Jinping and Ramaphosa shared a joke as they walked side by side towards the stage. They had caught up earlier.
China has dominated the trade relationship with South Africa, with some analysts going so far as to suggest that the world’s second largest economy is dumping goods in South Africa.
Dressed in black and a blue tie, the Chinese president said he was delighted to visit the Rainbow Nation once again and used his opening address to drive home a message clearly directed at US President Donald Trump.
“We BRICS countries should firmly promote an open world economy, be resolute in rejecting unilateralism and protectionism, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and jointly steer the global economy toward greater openness, inclusiveness, balanced growth and win-win outcomes for all,” he told the 1,000-plus business leaders present.
Among those present at the summit was Alan Mukoki, CEO of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which groups approximately 20,000 small, medium and large enterprises.
Mukoki said as desirable as having open economies among the BRICS countries is, it may have negative implications for those members not as developed as the others.
“You need to manage those things correctly, you need to say ‘let’s all start on an equal footing’. We start together and then when we are equal, we can then go and race an open race,” he told FORBES AFRICA.
“Even though I look fit, you can’t say that I should run the same race as Usain Bolt. It is not going to happen…otherwise we will destroy and decimate the economies of the region. South Africa’s economy cannot be big if the economies of the region are actually small,” he said.
Mukoki said the right mechanisms and strategies should be put in place in order for each member state to compete equally.
Others however remain hopeful.
South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, chose his words carefully when describing what South Africa is looking for regarding trade and investment in an open economy.
“It’s all about building regional value chains allowing us to up the value chain and become more sophisticated producers of industrial products and more value-added products,” he told FORBES AFRICA.
For South Africa, the involvement in BRICS is an opportunity to strengthen intra-Africa ties. A number of countries
<div id="attachment_37176" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37176" class="wp-image-37176 size-medium" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL.jpg 1736w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Trevor Ngwane, coordinator of the Break the BRICS coalition, hands over a memorandum of demands to South African Minister of Public Works, Thembelani Nxesi. The Group gathered outside the Sandton Convention Centre claiming BRICS in &#8220;anti-poor&#8221;. Photo by Gypseenia Lion.</div>
were invited to an outreach program of the BRICS summit, including Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Senegal, Jamaica, Gabon, Togo, Uganda and Rwanda. Each presented opportunities to deepen their partnerships with BRICS countries.
&nbsp;
“BRICS is not in competition with anyone, BRICS seeks to work with the entire global community for the betterment of humankind,” said Anil Sooklal, ambassador for BRICS, to FORBES AFRICA.
“The summit is not the end, the summit is the beginning of a process.”
&#8211; By Gypseenia Lion and Karen Mwendera

dps2_gl

Towards An Open World Economy

In the space of four months, a small group of athletes will have gone full circle – from the tough life in refugee camps, where sometimes food is rationed, to rubbing shoulders with the world’s most celebrated names in world-class facilities.
This is the strange reality for South Sudan’s Olympic athletes.
Being at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro for three weeks will be a completely new experience for these young athletes, who might never have got to the world’s largest sport event if they were not refugees.
Even their compatriots in South Sudan are stunned  how the athletes got access to an arena reserved for the crème de la crème of international sports.
Olympic Villages have world-class infrastructure, with beautiful apartments, paved roads, working sewerage systems, hospitals, and shopping centers.
For the five young men and women from South Sudan, this is a far cry from the refugee camps they come from. Here, the refugees live in tin-walled houses, with little sanitation. The camp is littered with long-drop toilets, although refugees prefer to use thickets and bushes, leading to the rampant outbreak of deadly diseases are rampant. They are conditions the majority of athletes at the Olympic Games will find unimaginable.
The civil war has destroyed South Sudan’s economy. Before the current bloodletting resumed in early July, the newly-formed Transitional Government of National Unity asked for international support to rebuild the country. The conflict has halved oil production which, coupled with the global decline in oil prices, has left the government short of cash.
Although better than living among warlords, life inside refugee camps is not for the faint-hearted. Roads are dusty and rough. Some schools within the camps have sports fields, but the lack of grass makes playing on them difficult.
These young athletes will leave these fields of dirt and be welcomed to Rio with roads lined with exotic flowers and trees. The Olympic Village’s gardens rivals those found in Buckingham Palace.
When those inside the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps heard their brothers and sisters would be at the Rio Olympics, they burst into ecstatic celebration. The five South Sudanese refugees were selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to form part of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Athletes team. The other athletes making up the 10-man team are two judokas from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a marathon runner from Ethiopia and two swimmers from Syria.
The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, says the team will raise awareness of the refugee crisis, which, according to the United Nations, stands at over 59 million displaced people.
“This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society,” says Bach.
Kenyan marathon legend Tegla Loroupe, who founded the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation, identified the South Sudanese athletes that will make up the rest of the refugee team. They are Pur Biel Yiech (800m), James Nyak (400m/800m), Rose Nathike (800m), Angeline Nadai Lohalith (1,500m) and Paulo Amoton Lokoro (1,500m).
The athletes have tear-jerking stories. They fled to neighboring Kenya as civil war erupted in Africa’s youngest nation, where compatriots supporting rival leaders were tearing into one another with machetes and guns. Girls and women were raped, property vandalized and homes looted. Tens of thousands died and many more were displaced. The survivors, mostly orphans and widows, were forced to cross into Kenyan camps.
The athletes are unified in their call for peace. They say this would allow many more young South Sudanese to pursue their dreams – whether in academics, sport or business.
“I would be representing my country in the Olympics had there been peace in my country. While other athletes will be carrying their countries’ flags, which is an honor and prestige, we will be participating under the Olympic Flag. That is good, and we are grateful to the IOC for remembering refugees, but sometime in the future, I would wish to run under the South Sudanese flag,” says Lohalith, who left home in 2001 and reached Kakuma the following year.
Lohalith started running for fun while attending primary school inside the Kakuma camp. She was among those scouted by Loroupe and transferred to Nairobi for specialized coaching.
Lohalith believes the refugee team at the Olympics will inspire other displaced people, even if they don’t win medals.
“It will be the first time refugees are represented in the Olympics, which will inspire other refugees because they will realize that they are just like normal people,” she says.
Jackson Pkemoi, who is managing the team at the church-run Anita Children’s Home in Ngong, 20 kilometers south of Nairobi, says the athletes are not taking the selection for granted.
“It is never easy to make an Olympic team. These athletes appreciate that this is a godsend, an opportunity to join the rest of the world at the Olympics,” he says.
Lokoro is glad he will be able to represent the refugees he lives with in his camp.
“When the refugees, and our people at Kakuma camp, heard of this, they were proud and celebrated. They are happy for us,” says Lokoro.
Nathike, who escaped her war-ravaged country with her parents, is running to help those she left behind.
“My people are happy and praying that I perform well so that I can change their lives,” she says. “Since we have talent, this can help promote peace all over the world.”
Nyak sent a massage to warring factions.
“Fighting is not the right way for people to solve issues. The more people fight, the more young people who have talent run away from home. So those countries [that] have conflict have to sit down and see where the problem is because this affects so many countries,” he says.
While their competitors are running for gold, these athletes from South Sudan are competing for something more important – peace.

The Olympians Who Want Peace  More Than Gold

This was the bizarre tour of a lifetime, arranged by world football legend Sir Stanley Matthews for youngsters he had trained in Soweto in defiance of apartheid laws.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4893" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Stanley-051-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
“At the airport I was riddled with nerves but tried to overcome them by busying myself shepherding my young charges and allaying their obvious fears. Large, forbidding men in light blue suits and dark glasses with inscrutable looks on their faces watched our every move but, uncomfortable as it was, they never approached us. At any given second I expected us to be rounded up, hustled into vans and taken away to one of South Africa’s infamous police stations but it never happened,” wrote Stanley in his autobiography.
“I couldn’t believe it and neither could Stan’s Men. We were on our way out of the country bound for Brazil, the first ever black football team to tour outside of South Africa.”
&nbsp;
Yet, apartheid followed the youngsters to Rio de Janeiro, in the shape of an intelligence man who sat at the back of the plane.
This strange journey was the work of one of the greatest English players ever. Matthews was the first European Footballer of the Year in 1956, who played top flight football until he was 50. They called him the ‘Wizard of the Dribble’ and he was loved the world over.
For the love of the game Matthews came to South Africa and defied the country’s segregation law to turn township talent into stars. This story is to be told this year in a United States documentary, called Matthews.
In the summer of 1975, Matthews spent months scouting talent from schools in Soweto, Johannesburg’s biggest township, and formed a team called Stan’s Men which he took on tour to Brazil. It was born of a question from a youngster on whether Matthews had ever played against Pelé. This led to an unheard of trip from South Africa. Matthews used his influence to get sponsors in the shape of Coca Cola and the Sunday Times, as well as passports for the boys, against the norms of the time.
“Sir Stan was a brave man, it was unlawful for white people to be in townships at that time but he was in Orlando every week to train us. He would come to our home to meet with our parents. Initially the parents thought we were crazy when we told them about going to Brazil but because Sir Stan was known to them they soon believed we were telling the truth,” says Hamilton Majola, then aged 17.
“During those days, Orlando Stadium was our mecca of football. For the Brazil tour, it was not easy, we trained hard. There were hundreds of talented footballers from all over Soweto but only 15 could be selected. Dedication and discipline were key to Sir Stan,” says Isaac Masigo, another youngster who boarded the plane for Brazil.
March 21, 1975, was the first day of the month-long tour to Brazil. It had taken weeks of hard training that created a good deal of excitement.
“On that Friday, learning in Soweto schools was disrupted… learners were running mad, so many children were bussed to Jan Smuts (OR Tambo International Airport) for our send-off… I will never forget that day, it was surreal,” says Masigo.
On the Boeing 707, destined for Brazil, the lads were anxious and smart. They dressed neatly in tailored navy suits with a gold badge, with Stan’s Men printed on it, blue shirts, navy ties, with red and white dots, and shiny black shoes. Upon arrival in Brazil, they were treated like stars and journalists flocked around them. They felt like stars staying at the Hotel Regina, in Rio, on the famous Copacabana Beach. Most had never seen the sea.
They went to practise with Flamengo Football Club and met Arthur Antunes Coimbra, better known as Zico, who was to star in the World Cup for Brazil. This was one of the players they had only seen on the bioscope, a makeshift cinema back home; televisions didn’t come to South Africa until a year later.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4892" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Stanley-003-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
“Carlos Alberto Pereira, who coached Bafana Bafana in the 2010 World Cup, I met him in 1975. We played and took pictures with Brazilian stars. We trained with big teams like Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Americana. The culture there was different from what we know in South Africa. The clubs there had coaches for different departments, kit manager, physiotherapist and that was not the case in Johannesburg. We trained from 6AM to noon. There they start training you from childhood, in South Africa we are playing games,” says Masigo.
The first game in Rio was a huge disappointment. The youngsters played alongside their coach Matthews, then aged 60, the first game against Gama Filho University and were drubbed 8-0.
“That was embarrassing; their ball was different from ours. Our dribbling skills couldn’t get us anywhere. They man marked so tight that we couldn’t manage a single goal. Brazilians meant business; our goalkeeper left the field with swollen hands. He cried. If it was not for Sir Stan things could have been worse,” says Majola.
One of the spectators was the white South African intelligence officer who tracked their every move.
“We were followed but we couldn’t see. The security police followed us from the airport to Brazil, they couldn’t trust black boys… One day, on our way to the hotel, a white Afrikaner man shocked us: ‘Ja (yes), you blacks of South Africa, you stay nice here’,” says Masigo.
Although the boys didn’t do anything to warrant jail back home; they broke the rules of Matthews when he wasn’t looking.
“After the training, when Sir Stan was resting, we were free to go the clubs and beach. There was this Copacabana Beach, the best beach in the world. It was women galore, I sweated as if I was running under the sun,” says Masigo.
The Brazilian women in swimwear mistook the African boys, kitted out in red-and-white tracksuits, for Americans, laughs Masigo.
Majola knows Matthews, a teetotaller and vegetarian, did not approve of these outings.
“Sir Stan taught us life values; from the beginning he said we mustn’t go for girls because they would destroy our football future. He warned us against alcohol,” says Majola.
Soon after Brazil, Matthews returned to England but he left a foundation in Soweto. The team continued playing friendly games, outside the country, in Swaziland and Botswana.
“When we returned from Brazil, the Sunday Times, which was one of our sponsors, reported on our tour and one of the headlines read ‘They are now internationals’. There was so much jealousy from other local teams as a result we were not allowed to affiliate to the local leagues. We played friendlies. Things started to get unfriendly. We can’t be pointing fingers now, maybe it was God’s will. The fact Sir Stan left his country and family to share his football skills with us, we had nothing to offer him in return,” says Majola.
“I had seen and experienced what football could do for an individual and I wanted others to realize not only the possibilities that football can bring, but to get in touch with the possibilities that lay within themselves, irrespective of how hard and demeaning their lives were. If I could enjoy such benefit from football, I was determined to show others such benefits existed for them as well,” wrote Matthews.
“It would have been easy for Sir Stan to start a commanding club with us but he was threatened against doing that. Every big company wanted to sponsor our team. We were treated well, we had sponsored transport to all our matches,” says Masigo.
The team dissolved and many went to other clubs. One, Vincent Tsie, Masigo’s only schoolmate on the Brazil trip, found the country’s laws unbearable after the Brazil trip and took off.
“After he saw the life in Brazil he refused to stay in the racist South Africa anymore. In 1976, he went to exile in Canada where he died,” says Masigo.
“I was also tempted to leave but I couldn’t do it because I was the eldest of my siblings and couldn’t leave them. I knew what happened to Kalamazoo (Steve Mokone, the first black South African in the European league who died in exile).” Masigo, now a pensioner, still lives in Orlando.
At 50, Matthews played his last professional game for Stoke City, the town of his birth. He died on February 23, 2002, aged 85. In February, Matthews would have been 101 years old.
His contribution to African football is timeless and will never be forgotten in Soweto.

Soweto To Rio  With A Spy On Your Tail

There is a movement that focuses on ‘consistently contributing to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced in accordance with Olympism and its values’. This is the Olympic Movement. There is no better place to see it than in the Athletes’ Village.
Home to more than 10,500 of the world’s best athletes, from 206 countries, all living in harmony and competing against each other, the Village is a vision of what this ‘better world’ would look like. It demonstrates that unity in diversity is not just an idea, but a possibility.
One of my favorite moments at the Olympics is arriving at the Athletes’ Village. The 206 flags towering over us greet us with a splash of color, representing different languages and cultures from around the world.
Arriving at my first Olympics in Sydney in 2000, I remember trying to take everything in at once and desperately wishing for a glimpse of anyone famous. Excitement is rampant; everywhere you look, photos are being taken and fingers are pointing. Some athletes stare in bewilderment or talk with no sense of purpose, while others have tears streaming down their faces. There are shrieks of delight as the younger athletes spot their first celebrity athlete. There is laughter as the older ones remember how they felt at their first Olympics. The wind in the flags, thrill of the athletes and the vibrant anticipation in the air generates an energy that will hum until the Olympic flame is extinguished and the last athlete leaves the Village.
There is a deeper purpose than just us athletes competing for the world to see and the Olympic Truce Wall reminds us of this. Positioned near the entrance among the flags, the Wall is a symbol for all athletes, coaches, team officials and heads of state to sign as a public declaration to observe and promote peace. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, I signed the Wall with UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon after he reiterated the importance of our responsibilities.
“We are joining our forces together for our shared ideals: sustainability, universality, solidarity, non-discrimination, the fundamental equality of all people,” said Ban.
This equality is what the Olympic Movement – portrayed in the Athletes’ Village – aims to achieve. Every athlete here has the same access to the same resources. We all sleep in similar apartments, train in the same 24-hour world-class gym, have access to the clinic (doctors, dentists, physical therapists, and in-house pharmacy), we ride the same buses to our venues, and eat the same food at the same tables in the same 24,000-square-meter dining hall. Everything provided for all the athletes here is  free. If this is overwhelming and the stress is too much then there is an Athletes’ Area filled with video games, billiards, table tennis, a music area and a mini movie theater to unwind.
As a swimmer, I thought I got up early. That is until I see the boxers drenched in sweat from their morning run or taekwondo athletes going through their routines. Watching the speed walkers train is always interesting, as is guessing which country athletes are from by trying to identify their team kit. The Village is big and it bustles with an endless movement of athletes training, chatting on benches in the landscaped park, or walking to and from the dining hall. Serving about 60,000 meals a day is no joke, athletes like to eat! The dining hall is the most frequented area and a place where you could find yourself (like I did during the London Olympics in 2012) having lunch with younger athletes, sitting next to Roger Federer and laughing at something Kobe Bryant was doing.
This is the culture the Village creates by bringing all of us together on an equal platform. It is also an essential part of a young athlete’s life because they are exposed to such an elite level of athletes which they may never have had access to. I saw Muhammad Ali when he visited the Village in Sydney and this left an indelible impression on me.
We may play different sports, wear different colors, believe in different things and speak different languages but we all have the same determination, the same goal and share the same fact that no one here has given up. Some of my fiercest competitors are my best friends, despite our different backgrounds, because we can find common ground in our goals and challenges and use it to get stronger. Unity in diversity is more than just a possibility, it is a necessity for our survival. In this Village there is no judgment, only encouragement. This is the Olympic spirit.

Hopes, Dreams And Rising Costs

This will be the next village of tears, dreams and heroes

How many of the 32 coaches that will going to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in June will still have a job after the tournament remains to be seen. If past experience is anything to go by, at least half may be out of a job.
Some will be sacked; others will leave. The end of a big tournament is often the right time to take on a fresh challenge.
The World Cup is often a catalyst for change because it is the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next.
Most football associations around the world do their planning in four-year blocks, starting after one World Cup and leading up to the next. So, it is only natural that there will be some change after this year’s event in Brazil.
<div id="attachment_2672" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2672" class="size-medium wp-image-2672" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/180300328-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />GENEVA, SWITZERLAND &#8211; SEPTEMBER 10: Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque looks on during the Spain v Chile international friendly at Stade de Geneve on September 10, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)</div>
Being a coach, especially an international one, is a stressful job. Coaches are always under pressure to get results, it does not matter which team you are in charge of, from Spain to Djibouti, fans and media expect success—the measure of that success is the only thing that changes.
Even Vicente del Bosque, the current coach of Spain feels the pressure. He won the World Cup with his country in 2010 and followed that up by claiming the 2012 European Championships as well, arguably the two most difficult international competitions to win.
Defeats for Spain have been rare, but when they do come, such as in the final of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup against Brazil, or even the 1-0 loss to South Africa in a friendly in November, the questions that are asked of him, his players and his preparation are intense.
Del Bosque has built a level of expectation around the side and in so doing increased the pressure on himself. A single defeat is met with a lot of soul-searching. Goodness knows what would happen if they lost back-to-back matches, something that Spain has not experienced since 2006.
A lot of this pressure is also created by the media. It makes for great headlines and plenty of discussion online, but the truth of the matter is Del Bosque knows his job is under no real threat.
He has been tasked with taking Spain to the World Cup in Brazil and that is where the real pressure will kick in for him. What counts in his favor is that he knows he has the players to succeed.
Other coaches have different kinds of pressure, where the expectation for success is there but the playing personnel cannot back it up.
Coaches know better than anyone else the true quality of their players and just how much they can conceivably get out of them. They may get a bit of luck now and again to help them along the way, but for the most part they have to work within the constraints of their squad.
Being a national coach is vastly different to leading a side at club level.
With a club you work with the players six or seven days a week, you can work on their weaknesses and help them develop their strengths. You can sit through endless video sessions with them and analyze to a fine detail to try and get things right.
That is simply not the case at a national team level. You only have the players for a few days before a match. In that time your job is to decide which combinations will work best and try and get the side as organized as possible.
You can run some drills, you can provide some analysis of the opposition and sit through a few team meetings but that is about as far as it goes. Then, maybe, you see the players again two months later.
Leading up to a World Cup is different, where players are available for camps some three weeks before the start of the tournament. That is a slightly better scenario, but still nowhere near enough time to get your message across to your team like the coach of a club can.
That is why plenty of excellent club coaches have not been able to translate their success to the international stage. They are two very different roles. It is also why many coaches say the international game is not for them. They miss the daily interaction that club coaching brings.
Coaching at a national team level involves scouting for players, sitting through hours and hours of football on a weekend and knowing hundreds of players inside out.
There is a skill in knowing what you are looking for and picking players who complement one another. And, of course, you have to deal with the advice you receive from colleagues, agents and the media.
To be successful, coaches have to rise above that and need to have a clear picture of how they want their team to play and which players will best achieve that.
There is something to be said for carrying the hopes of a nation on your shoulders. Millions of people are expecting coaches to raise their spirits. That is real pressure, knowing that young and old are relying on you to provide the victories that will either leave the nation in a state of euphoria or despair.
Players often carry the blame in the media, but at the end of the day the buck stops with the coach and it is he who could lose his job. Players will keep on playing, maybe not for the national team but certainly their clubs, and their income is secured.
Coaches have to rely on their players to keep them employed. If you see a coach praying on the sidelines, it is often because they feel helpless.
As a coach you can pick the best players and devise the perfect plan but it only takes one small error from a defender, a slip by a goalkeeper or a penalty miss from a striker to lose a match. That is the thin margin between success and failure for many coaches.

If you want to coach your country—pray

He calls himself an African optimist; in the coming days, he faces a test of this comforting belief.
Iqbal Survé has made millions investing in the continent, turning himself, in less than a decade, from a medical doctor into one of South Africa’s top entrepreneurs. Now, he faces controversy and opposition around his newest deal to buy a clutch of Africa’s most powerful newspapers.
At the same time, he will promote the continent in the global economy, as a member of the recently launched BRICS business council. South Africa came late to the party. It joined the group of significant emerging economies in April 2010, turning BRIC into BRICS, nine years after its inception. Today, the southern African nation plays an important role within the forum. It acts as a gateway to the continent for China, Brazil, India and Russia; as a catalyst for African integration. BRICS launched a business council in March, which consists of five key business leaders from each nation.
“The council is an important development to foster intra-BRICS economic ties. It will not only focus on trade, but also on technology transfer, skills development, banking, manufacturing and industrialization,” says Survé.
He will direct South Africa’s role within the BRICS council together with mining magnate Patrice Motsepe, Business Unity SA CEO Nomaxabiso Majokweni, Zungu Investment Company executive chair Sandile Zungu and Transnet CEO Brian Molefe.
“The members of the business council are people who understand the nexus between business, politics and economic growth,” says Survé, who serves as an economic advisor to South African president, Jacob Zuma.
The business council will work to boost trade, encourage entrepreneurs in member countries to pool capital and form joint ventures; while the five governments will usher in market access by easing visas, registration of companies and exchange controls.
“Our purpose is to create the smoothest possible interaction between companies,” says Survé.
Already, trade between BRICS and Africa has increased tenfold since 2002, with an estimated current value of $340 billion.
But there’s more to it. South Africa wants to use the BRICS business council to advance, not only, its own agenda but also that of the continent. Part of this will be moving trade relations with China, India, Brazil and Russia away from the narrow focus of commodity exports.
Africa’s progress is something close to Survé’s heart. The former ‘struggle doctor’ cared for political prisoners and victims of detention and torture during apartheid, including former South African President Nelson Mandela. He left medicine, in 1997, to launch investment holding company Sekunjalo Group, which is known for purchasing controlling stakes in firms to empower black workers.
Sekunjalo has investments in more than 170 companies and is South Africa’s top-rated black empowerment company. It comes as little surprise that Survé, from a poor family in Cape Town, has made a fortune from investing in oil in Africa and is regarded as an entrepreneur who is shaping the continent’s future.
“At Sekunjalo, we pay serious attention to skills development, corporate social investment, enterprise development and transformation. It’s a gentler form of capitalism that puts people before profits,” he says.
The newest acquisition by Sekunjalo could prove a test of these words. A consortium, led by Sekunjalo, bought the South African arm of Irish Independent News and Media for $200 million.
The deal means that Sekunjalo will acquire newspapers such as The Star, Pretoria News, Sunday Independent, Cape Times, Cape Argus, Mercury, Daily News, which employ around 1,400 people. There has been an uproar about the failure to disclose the identity of the other funders. Survé was sworn to secrecy by the Irish media house but revealed the funders in late June after a general meeting of the sellers, when it emerged that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and some of its affiliates comprise a major portion of Sekunjalo Independent Media’s (SIM) shareholding and that employees of Independent News and Media South Africa (INMSA), would get 10% of shares in the company. It has been reported that if the sale goes through, banks could write off €100 million ($133 million) of the group’s debt. Sekunjalo Independent Media, will claim 75% ownership, while the remaining stake is reported to be held by the Government Employees Pension Fund. But Survé has refuted this statement. Staff at the media group—who formed a trust to acquire the remaining 25%—say it is being bought by a newly formed company with no records, turnover or assets.
Away from acquisitions, Survé believes BRICS presents an opportunity for Africa to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).
“FDI is key for development. Our continent is on the threshold of dramatic change. For the first time, we are at a point where all people might be able to access capital,” the black empowerment pioneer and philanthropist reckons.
This economic growth is closely tied to the continent’s fortunes, Survé stresses: “BRICS is not a South African exercise. It’s good for the whole of Africa and will lead to stronger bridges between South Africa and its African counterparts, too,” he says.
If all goes to plan, Africa could emulate the Asian tigers.
“Some African countries, like Mozambique and Ethiopia, do it already. Thirty years ago, China was in exactly the same place where Africa is today. It has seen enormous development from not being among the top 100 of the gross domestic products in the world to being the world’s second largest economy,” he says.
A key role of the BRICS business council, which will convene twice a year, is to examine business models.
“The idea is to learn the lessons of how some of the countries, such as Brazil and China, have achieved their phenomenal economic growth. How do they support the private sector? What policies and capital initiatives were put into place? What are the lessons in terms of infrastructure development?”
Survé stresses the fact that the formation of the BRICS business council does not mean trade relationships with western countries will be put on the back burner.
“From our perspective, we need the African economy to grow. For that to happen we need to do business with multilateral partners, whether they come from BRICS, North America or Europe.”
With his foray into newspapers, Survé may need nerve as well as optimism.

Activist Doctor  Turned Capitalist

The first ever World Cup on African soil brought the whole continent together. Africa was finally able to showcase its beauty to the rest of the world. The passion, vibe and pure energy were beyond all imagination. People took to the streets, sang through the cold winter nights and the world was introduced to the vuvuzela. Who could ever forget it?
The international football governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), once said: “Brazil is football”. So it’s hard to think that the country synonymous with the beauty of football could be struggling to put on such a huge event in the sporting world. Is it true? Are the Brazilians more concerned with lifting the cup for the sixth time than putting together a spectacular event?
Brazil is the only team to have qualified for all the World Cups and has won it: in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. The country last hosted the World Cup in 1950 and is currently ranked 13th by FIFA, Spain and Germany are ranked first and second respectively.
The excitement of a World Cup at the home of legends has been tainted by allegations of corruption and reports that construction was far behind schedule and over budget.
When news of Delta Constructora’s withdrawal from the Maracanã stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, redevelopment and its investigation for corruption and bribery by the federal police came out, it threw a $3.7 million investment into doubt. This money was meant to contribute to the Maracanã Rio 2014 construction consortium, which included Odebrecht Infraestrutura and Andrade Gutierrez. With only two companies left in the consortium, the question was whether there were going to be enough funds to complete the project. At the time, the construction company also had numerous Rio transport infrastructure contracts.
Maracanã was built for the 1950 World Cup final. It holds the record for the largest attendance at a World Cup final, at 199,854 supporters. By April, work on the stadium was about 40% complete and open for public tours. It is the venue for the 2014 World Cup final and is supposed to be completed by February 2013, in time for the Confederations Cup.
PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, Mauricio Girardello wrote: “When building a facility for one event, you need to balance the demands of a limited use with other uses that will make the facility more financially viable over the long term.”
This is something South Africa knows all too well. The country is faced with the problem of unused stadiums that it spent close to $1 billion to build. The 94,000 capacity Soccer City, in Johannesburg, is being used for concerts, games and tours but others, like Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, are sitting empty and costing millions to maintain each year—due to the fact that there are no provincial teams large enough to take the leases over from the provincial governments and the inability of the stadiums to cater to the large rugby teams and their supporter’s needs. The other legacy left by the 2010 World Cup was the dire state of the South African hospitality industry. In 2011, the average occupancy rate dropped to around 48% and many hotels had to shut their doors. The millions of visitors were gone and had taken their money with them.
Danny Jordaan knows what it’s like to stage a World Cup. Jordaan was part of the formation of the South African Football Association (SAFA) in 1991. His World Cup involvement spans almost 15 years and his experience with the 2010 World Cup, held in South Africa, earned him the position of special advisor for the 2014 World Cup; a member of the 2014 World Cup and Confederations Cup’s organizing committee; a member FIFA’s Transparency and Compliance Committee and part of the FIFA technical evaluation team for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
“The infrastructure of Brazil needs huge investment and so their infrastructure program has greater demands on Brazil than in South Africa,” he says.
Access roads, parking lots, subways, trams, monorails and shopping malls are just some of the infrastructure projects Brazil will need to focus on, aside from stadiums. Construction of the $500,000 North/Center (Manaus) Monorail has been awarded to a consortium consisting of three companies.
Brazil’s planned infrastructure budget is around $11.2 billion and it is expecting $102 billion to be contributed to its GDP by the end of the two tournaments. Three point two billion dollars is allocated for airports.
In February, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and a Brazilian partner secured 51% of a 20-year concession to expand, operate and maintain the Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo. The airport is said to be one of the worst in the world. Brazil has decided on the privatization route for its airports in the hope to meet the demands that will be placed on them by the millions of expected visitors.
The two countries, Brazil and South Africa, have been sharing information and expertise since the 2010 World Cup, when a Brazilian soccer delegation came to visit. Like Brazil, South Africa received a lot of bad press, with people citing high crime rates; poor preparation and calls to move the tournament to Australia.
Jordaan feels that this criticism rears its head when the host country is in the developing world.
With this shared experience, how much cooperation is there likely to be? There are two sides to this coin. Some would say that the key to hosting a great World Cup would be to use the experience and expertise of those who have come before. But on the other hand, you can argue that Brazil would want to keep all business and money within the country by giving Brazilian companies the opportunity of large-scale projects.
Jordaan says this is where joint ventures come in. He says that as much as the government will not give a 100% tender to a foreign company, having a Brazilian company on board will certainly help—like in the case of ACSA.
“Brazilians are passionate about football. So I think that once they get the bricks and mortar sorted out the people will turn it into a wonderful celebration and that is what we are looking for”, he adds.
One of the issues facing the organizers was the passionate but poor Brazilian fans. In Brazil, students and pensioners are allowed a 50% discount on tickets. As an institution trying to make a profit, this may not be what FIFA had in mind. As a compromise, the organization has agreed to set aside 300,000 tickets for these supporters.
It really has been one thing after another for the Brazilians. The sports minster, Orlando Silva, resigned last October under accusations of corruption. The Brazilian Football Association’s president has also resigned. At some point the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, was not speaking to the Brazilian Confederation of Soccer’s president, Ricardo Teixeira. At the same time the minister of sports, Aldo Rebelo, was not speaking to FIFA’s general secretary, Jérôme Valcke.
In 2000, FIFA introduced the continental rotation policy, which began with the 2010 World Cup in Africa; South America was next in line.
There is a major difference between the South African and Brazilian World Cups, beyond geographics. Unlike Brazil, South Africa went through two competitive bids, the first was lost to Germany for the 2006 World Cup and the second was secured against five African countries with a 500 page bid book. South Africa had to show that it had the capacity to host the tournament and provide 17 government guarantees. Brazil was up against Columbia in the 2014 bid, but the South American Federation unanimously decided to back Brazil as the option for 2014.
This seems to have caused problems. One of the more thorny matters was the sale of alcohol at matches. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) is the largest brewer in the world and one of its brands, Budweiser is a major sponsor of the tournament. The problem was that Brazil’s Soccer Fan Statute—Article 13: prohibits alcohol at Brazilian soccer games. After heated words and years, the World Cup Bill—to lift the ban on alcohol—was passed by the lower house of Parliament in March, the Senate in May and received the final approval and signature of the president in June. The Senate changed the Bill so that it applies only to the Confederations and World Cups.
Some members of Senate were holding out because they felt that their law on alcohol was in line with the FIFA 2004 Safety Guidelines—Article 19: ban on the sale of alcohol and that the ban has helped reduce violence at games.
Jordaan’s tips for a world class World Cup are simple. First, you need the necessary legal framework and then you get the infrastructure going. These seem to be lessons the Brazilians would have done best to learn much earlier in the game. All new reports from both sides seem to be positive that Brazil is back on track, or at least trying.
You’ll get a different story if you ask the millions who live in Brazil’s slums—the favelas.
One of the harshest measures in the preparation for the soccer tournaments, as well as the Olympic Games in 2016, is the forced removal of favela residents. Some have been around for over a century and have now been declared Imminent Domain—meaning that the government has the power to remove the residents and use the space for public use. The proposed 2016 Olympic Park is an extravagant project destined on a favela site.
In a video produced by non-profit organizations, Phesca Brazil and WITNESS, a devastated grandmother tells of how she was born in Morro da Providência, in 1941, and her mother before that. Three generations of her family currently live in the favela. Some residents talk about how they’ve only been given a month’s notice.
Other favelas are enjoying some improvements to the power, water and sewage. There have also been reports of armed police raids with tear gas, rubber bullets and tanks to clean up crime.
All this aside, the eyes of the world will be on Brazil. The only question is whether they will feel the pressure to step up their game and put on a fantastic show or merely the pressure to lift the cup.
“The people [Brazilians] will not react as South Africans. What South Africans did was embrace other teams and the event hype and passion continued and South Africa celebrated in the streets even though their own team was long out of the tournament”, says Jordaan.
“If they [Brazil] don’t [win on home soil] I think it will be a difficult moment”.

Tag: Brazil

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