Boycott the World Cup

The World Cup is coming to South Africa in 2010. To prepare for the visitors, the Cape Town government is “fixing up” their city – they are forcibly removing the shacks that are visible from the highway between the airport and the city. This area is one of the more established townships in Cape Town, and one of the closest to the city. The City gov’t is trying to move people to a new development in Happy Valley, about 35 km further out of town. Transportation is very expensive and very limited, making it all the harder for people to hold jobs.

And you can imagine the amount of money that the government of South Africa is pouring into building stadiums and such, instead of education or housing. This is actually what happens with many of these huge international sports events… another unique opportunity to find a way that things like the Olympics can actually benefit a country (not just the elites and tourist departments).