Mega-Event and Stadium Legacies in the Global South: The Case of South Africa

Abstract

Countries within the global south have begun adopting sports events within the tourism niche as a strategy to foster positive legacy outcomes and promote growth and infrastructure development. South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was the first ever to occur on the African continent. The construction of stadia in preparation for the venture was accompanied by contentious debates about the costs involved, and the post-event sustainability thereof. Focusing on the stadia constructed in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, the study employed qualitative methodologies to collect data from key informants from relevant stakeholder organisations. Results obtained outline the urban infrastructure legacy expectations, impacts and implications of South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 event. Even though support for the construction of stadia for the 2010 event was evident from the communities, the findings highlighted a nuanced lambasting of the processes for an almost complete lack of strategic planning for post-event sustainability. Despite visible acceptance of the burden posed by these stadia evidenced by current operating and maintenance costs, the feel-good effects, the emotional attachment and the novelty, they represent rather engendered feelings of the need for the implementation of better strategies to foster sustainable legacy outcomes, while voicing opinions at opposing any considerations at demolition.