South Africa’s winning bid to host the 2010 World Cup wasn’t much of a contest. The bid was confined to Africans nations since the continent is the only one never to host the games. Few Africans are even serious contenders, and even less bothered to submit proposals. And without the exception of Egypt (which never submit a serious bid), no African nation can match South Africa in public diplomacy and lobbying. And thus the games were awarded to Nelson Mendal’s nation as an encouragement to the troubled continent.

But South Africa was always a poor choice. The nation is ill-equipped to host the games and not in terms of infrastructure. Stadiums, roads and public transport can always be built and, as long as capital is there, are relatively easy tasks. No, South Africa’s problem is safety. The nation is incredibly dangerous. Violence is rampant, and if you’re not wealthy enough to afford to live in a gated community guarded by armed men and high walls, attack dogs, and a private security system then life faces many perils in the nation.

According to The Economist, the nation records roughly “50 murders, 100 rapes, 700 burglaries and 500-plus violent assaults” a day! And in a nation of 50 million. And some of the figures are grossly under-reported. One in ten rapes is reported, for instance. And there is a casually approach to violence by criminal gangs and many young men. The said Economist article noted that gangs often kill people for nothing more than mobile phones and in a Medical Research Council survey conducted in two provinces, more than a fourth of men aged 18-49 admitted to raping a woman at least once.
Given such levels of crime and the shocking casual nature of killing and raping (this is in no way to suggest this the norm, of course) it is not surprising that 62% of the population state that they would feel “very unsafe” walking alone in their town after sun down.

South Africa is trying to clamp down on violent crime, something that has become more urgent as the Cup approaches. Since 1996, state security spending has quadrupled (private security has grown by a factor of 400). And while the worse crime: murder, rape and bodily harm; has declined house and business robbery has doubled and quadrupled respectively.

Such figures are evoke serious reservations for those planning to visit the country during the Games when gangs may be on the lookout for wealthy tourists. South Africa’s security problems (to say nothing of poverty and HIV/AIDS levels which raises the question of whether the government should be investing in stadiums during such a time) should have given the Cup to some other nation like, say, Tunisia. Not that I have a dog in this scenario.

But South African police did have a dry run this past summer with the Confederation Cup, the precursor to the games which powerhouse Brazil won 3-2 contra the U.S. Consolation: There was no reporting on endangered tourists.