COSATU shocked by the cabinet's decision to support the bid to host 2023 Rugby World Cup
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is taken aback by the South African Cabinet’s decision to support the South African Rugby Union’s bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup ,and also learn that the cabinet has approved a request for guarantees to the value of R 2,7 billion that is a prerequisite to hosting the event.
The federation does not buy the argument that this bid was packaged as an “economic bid” that will help stimulate economic activity, employment and empowerment.
The country is yet to honestly quantify the benefits of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup that turned out to be nothing but a festival of looting and cheating. That tournament was followed by the longest public service strike, when workers were told that there was no money to pay for their salary adjustments.
The notion that this bid will help prove that we are winning is ridiculous and laughable. Winning nations do not have 38% unemployment with 50% of their young people out of work. All sectors of the economy are currently bleeding jobs, especially the mining, agriculture and the manufacturing sectors.
Keeping up appearances and converting this country into a playground for the rich is not an economic master plan that will take us out of recession and eradicate poverty.
Sporting events and the flag-waving hysteria that accompanies them will not mask the painful reality that 10 million unemployed people are unemployed and more than 17 million are on welfare as a result of wrong policy choices and lack of decisive leadership.
It is also interesting that the same companies that are retrenching and not interested in investing in the economy are prepared to spend millions of rands sponsoring this world cup.
The same South African Rugby Union has done very little to transform the sport of rugby to accommodate the black majority. This is another proof that governments’ actions are still geared towards promoting the interest of the white minority.
Statement issued by COSATU, 4 August 2017
