World Cup: One month to go
I just took an overnight flight out of Johannesburg's Oliver Tambo International Airport. Depressingly, the notorious criminal gangs that specialize in looting luggage are apparently still very active.
The Kenya Airways staff at check-in virtually begged me to get my luggage wrapped in protective plastic sheeting, to deter the thieves. The airline is so frustrated that it provides a free wrapping service. "It's worse at night," said one official. Transiting luggage is considered especially vulnerable. How can South Africa spend a fortune on upgrading the airport - it does look great - and still fail to enforce the most basic security measures one month before the World Cup?
Speaking of security, South Africa's national police boss Bheki Cele has been shooting from the hip again.
General Cele is old school - cowboy hats, gruff talk, a certain disdain for detail. It's a style that does much to generate headlines but rather less to instill confidence.
Mark Shinners, on the other hand, exudes a bewitching optimism about the World Cup and its impact on South Africa. He's a liberation hero, who spent two decades on Robben Island along side Nelson Mandela. I visited him at his modest home in Pretoria a few days ago.
Mr Shinners championed football in jail - a story well captured on this film - and is now doing the same on the outside. "It's a quantum leap as far as I'm concerned," he told me of the World Cup. "The warmth it will generate will change perceptions about Africa as a whole. Those who sacrificed in the struggle to free this country... have not made that sacrifice in vain."
Stirring stuff. And true, I'm sure. Although there is also a real danger of expectations being raised too high - a point made by a school teacher I wrote about recently.
Whatever the long-term significance, the excitement is certainly building here. After a lukewarm start, Football Friday is sweeping the nation. In my local shopping mall almost every member of staff was wearing the yellow and green Bafana Bafana team shirt. There's a tantalising report here about who's actually profiting from all the merchandise.
As for visiting fans... a couple of interesting articles here about crime - which as I've long argued, is not the threat that some claim - and about transport which could still be the Achilles heel of this World Cup.
I'm on my way to Ivory Coast now, where they're no doubt busy toasting Didier Drogba's latest triumphs, but I will answer your messages soon.
I’m 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~14~RS~)
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A good point about security at South African Airports. However I must say that the only times I have been robbed in airports where at London-Heathrow T5 and JFK ( New York ). The fact of the matter is that a little common sense is what is needed you can get robbed at any airport on this planet.
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Achilles heal ?!! See me after class!
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I was recently on a flight to the UK from Johannesburg on SAA, in the arrival hall there were three other people (along with me) at the SAA bagage services desk with looted luggage. What is amazing is they would need a small vehicle to cart away all the item they have stolen. Nobody seems to realise that if they can smuggle out these articles from a secure area, they can equally smuggle in items such as bombs or drugs. Those going to the world cup must be aware and insist the airlines plastic wrap their luggage free of charge.
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excuse my interrupting, but would it be possible to cover francophone Africa in more detail-Gabon in particular?
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Whoops. Heel it is Richard. Touch wood I have only ever lost one thing from my luggage and that was at Nairobi airport nearly a decade ago. Yes Micromj, I'm in Abidjan right now dusting off my French.
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you say transiting luggage is the most vulnerable, so if Johannesburg is my final destination, less chance of my luggage being looted.
Do you suggest taking hard case luggage to the world cup ?
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I have a feeling that security will be beefed up in areas where tourists will be traveling. I don't think this will be too big a problem for the few weeks of the world cup.
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Did you read that link you posted about crime?
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In the 20 years of flying through Johannesburg's airport I have only had my luggage tampered with 4 times. Compare that to having had my luggage lost 6 times. The common denominator has always been on check-in, which usually means me returning home. Maybe it was the dirty laundry that put them off, but the only time anything was taken was 14 years ago, and that was cheap cologne and a beanie.
From my experience though anything with a zip is vulnerable. And get a more expensive lock. Or just don't have anything valuable in your bag. As a last resort have your bag wrapped in cling wrap, it's only a few Pounds. However be warned that should you be transiting, customs may ask you to open your bag - bye bye clingwrap so you may have to have it re-wrapped.
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Not wanting to tempt fate but I have never had any problems with my luggage when flying in or out of South Africa or indeed on internal flights.
I must however question Andrew on his comments about crime, if it is not as bad as all that then why do most people have bars on the windows in their homes, electric fencing round the garden, live in boomed off areas with armed gaurds at the enterance? In addition to that why do we have smash and grab protection on our car windows and at the end of my road is a road sign that says "Caution Highjack Hotspot".
So I would argue that there is no smoke without fire.
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Katie - yes I did. What's your point?
BringitON - it's hard for me to offer concrete advice on this. I've never had any problems at Johannesburg airport, but I was very struck by my experience with KQ the other night. Andrew (9) makes some good points.
Englishman_in_Jozzi - neither have I, but I've heard enough stories to know it is still an issue for some airlines. As for security - we're taking about two different fires. Security for visiting fans and tourists is one issue - security for South Africans living here full-time is very different. All the experts and statistics back this up.
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To be perfectly honest I think that the World Cup Soccer will be safe and enjoyable for the fans. What irks me though is that the reason for this is because the government will have spent billions of rands on temporary improvements on everything. Police will be redeployed to protect the tourist areas leaving crime rates to rise in the invisible townships, power will be diverted from the domestic grid to power hotels and stadiums, and the tourists will have a great time while the locals suffer.
Doubtless the government thinks that doing this for just a month won't hurt much and things can be "sorted out" afterwards, but criminals are like weeds, let them get a foothold and they're a lot more difficult to remove.
What is positively criminal is the motivation for this. The article you link to in your post showing that politicians and organisers have huge stakes in the World Cup is just the tip of the iceberg, and the reason for all the resource reallocation is simply to protect their investment. If the politicians diverted police resources to guard just their businesses there would be a public outcry, which is probably why they've gone to such great lengths to conceal the extent of their investment in the World Cup, because that's precisely what they're doing here, reallocating state resources in order to protect their own personal interests.
It's for this reason that I'd recommend foreign tourists to stay away. Help contribute to the downfall of corrupt politicians by leaving them with millions of rands worth of unsold t-shirts, empty hotel rooms and deserted restaurants. Leave them with empty bank accounts and with the firm knowledge that the international community doesn't support corrupt governments.
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