Off the pitch, the FIFA World Cup has seen a tense standoff between South Africa's formal and informal economies as they compete for their share of the spinoffs, but declaring a winner may be hard.
Cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg have struggled to balance the concerns of street traders, whose livelihoods depend on selling sweets, foodstuff and other goods at transportation hubs and intersections, with the demands of hosting the international competition.
As early as 2008, city officials started relocating traders away from traditional vending areas that would be near stadiums and fan parks; the traders mobilised in response, with varying success.
South Africa's official unemployment rate is around 25 percent but independent economists have put it as high as 40 percent, so the informal sector has been a refuge for those unable to get a steady job. The Human Sciences Research Council has estimated that the informal economy accounts for about 7 percent of gross domestic product.
Trading spaces
Renovations to Cape Town's Green Point stadium, just outside the CBD, and to the main transport hubs and the Grand Parade – a plaza opposite City Hall where vendors have done business for decades - meant informal traders were relocated, some several times.
The disruptions were bad for business; the new Green Point market is expected to accommodate only about a third of the vendors who previously traded there.
In Soweto, Johannesburg, the Soccer City Traders Association had been supplying food to construction workers at the flagship stadium since work began there. When the association received an eviction notice in February 2010, it banded together with 33 other similar organizations in Gauteng Province and marched on FIFA's Local Organizing Committee (LOC) headquarters.
Carrying banners and placards with slogans like "Will my children eat soccer balls?", traders demanded formal employment opportunities with FIFA affiliates, allocated vending sites at venues, and a stop to relocations. Similar marches took place in Cape Town.
"You feel like they are taking away your job," said Soccer City Traders Association vice-chair Cecilia Dube, a widowed mother of four who also supports her sister's children and elderly parents. "This is the only way I am getting bread on my table."
She told IRIN that the informal sector has provided economic opportunities that the formal sector has not, including better wages and independence. According to the International Labour Office, about 70 percent of South Africa's informal traders are women.
Change of fortunes
Dube said their luck changed just five days before the World Cup started on 11 June, when the City of Johannesburg told selected traders they had been allocated space in the stadium precincts, at FIFA-branded fan fests, and public viewing areas.
"Informal traders have been trained and accredited by the City's Department of Economic Development, and these are the traders who are trading in the designated areas," said Sibongile Mazibuko, head of the City of Johannesburg's 2010 department. She said these traders were largely those who had worked in the vicinity of stadiums during construction or renovation.
FIFA regulations stipulate exclusion zones, which mean traders have to be located further afield from the stadiums and teeming crowds.
Dube said accredited traders were rotating among the city's various venues, in line with the schedule, and although she was happy with the city's decision and schedule, competing with the stands set up by formal fast-food restaurants at the venues was a challenge.
The City of Cape Town also made a last-minute play to accommodate some of its informal traders, moving most of those who traded on the Grande Parade – now a fan fest – to an adjacent site.
Rosheda Muller, Chairperson of the Grand Parade United Traders Association, told IRIN: "They engaged us rather late, but the city did engage us in good faith here, and the alternate site is adjacent to the fan fest so we're happy with that."
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Cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg have struggled to balance the concerns of street traders, whose livelihoods depend on selling sweets, foodstuff and other goods at transportation hubs and intersections, with the demands of hosting the international competition.
As early as 2008, city officials started relocating traders away from traditional vending areas that would be near stadiums and fan parks; the traders mobilised in response, with varying success.
South Africa's official unemployment rate is around 25 percent but independent economists have put it as high as 40 percent, so the informal sector has been a refuge for those unable to get a steady job. The Human Sciences Research Council has estimated that the informal economy accounts for about 7 percent of gross domestic product.
Trading spaces
Renovations to Cape Town's Green Point stadium, just outside the CBD, and to the main transport hubs and the Grand Parade – a plaza opposite City Hall where vendors have done business for decades - meant informal traders were relocated, some several times.
The disruptions were bad for business; the new Green Point market is expected to accommodate only about a third of the vendors who previously traded there.
In Soweto, Johannesburg, the Soccer City Traders Association had been supplying food to construction workers at the flagship stadium since work began there. When the association received an eviction notice in February 2010, it banded together with 33 other similar organizations in Gauteng Province and marched on FIFA's Local Organizing Committee (LOC) headquarters.
Carrying banners and placards with slogans like "Will my children eat soccer balls?", traders demanded formal employment opportunities with FIFA affiliates, allocated vending sites at venues, and a stop to relocations. Similar marches took place in Cape Town.
 Will my children eat soccer balls? |
She told IRIN that the informal sector has provided economic opportunities that the formal sector has not, including better wages and independence. According to the International Labour Office, about 70 percent of South Africa's informal traders are women.
Change of fortunes
Dube said their luck changed just five days before the World Cup started on 11 June, when the City of Johannesburg told selected traders they had been allocated space in the stadium precincts, at FIFA-branded fan fests, and public viewing areas.
"Informal traders have been trained and accredited by the City's Department of Economic Development, and these are the traders who are trading in the designated areas," said Sibongile Mazibuko, head of the City of Johannesburg's 2010 department. She said these traders were largely those who had worked in the vicinity of stadiums during construction or renovation.
FIFA regulations stipulate exclusion zones, which mean traders have to be located further afield from the stadiums and teeming crowds.
Dube said accredited traders were rotating among the city's various venues, in line with the schedule, and although she was happy with the city's decision and schedule, competing with the stands set up by formal fast-food restaurants at the venues was a challenge.
The City of Cape Town also made a last-minute play to accommodate some of its informal traders, moving most of those who traded on the Grande Parade – now a fan fest – to an adjacent site.
Rosheda Muller, Chairperson of the Grand Parade United Traders Association, told IRIN: "They engaged us rather late, but the city did engage us in good faith here, and the alternate site is adjacent to the fan fest so we're happy with that."
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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