Xola Mali can barely hide his excitement for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. The spokesperson for the Unemployed
People’s Movement (UPM) says there is a better chance of South Africa winning the tournament then there is of him, or any of his comrades, securing tickets to a game.
Xola Mali can barely hide his excitement for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. The spokesperson for the Unemployed
People’s Movement (UPM) says there is a better chance of South Africa winning the tournament then there is of him, or any of his comrades, securing tickets to a game.
But yet these human rights activists in the townships foresee one good outcome of the event. “This is our chance to be heard,” says Mali, as he carefully looked around the bar, as if their World Cup ambush is a dirty secret.
As with many other township South Africans, he feels little good will come of the event, but the tournament will provide the UPM unprecedented access to the world media.
They intend to use the World Cup to vent their growing anger at the current SA leadership at a time when the whole world’s attention will be focused on the country.
“We don’t want to disrupt the World Cup,” explained Mali, “but tourists need to see that the World Cup contributes close to zero to the livelihood of the people.”
More than R9-billion has been budgeted for the building and upgrading of infrastructure for the events, including 10 stadiums and a high-speed train. Lack of accessibility to this infrastructure and money to the poor is a major grievance.
UPM’s campaign is simple. To give every man and woman in South Africa the Constitutional right to work. In addition they are demanding a guaranteed income of R2 000 per month for the unemployed.
Mali, who prefers to be called “X-Man”, claims Grahamstown’s unemployment rate is above 70%. Sixteen years after the ANC won its first election, UPM is still fighting for basic human rights.
Having a direct line to call on the unemployed for riotous assistance puts this organisation into a position of immeasurable power.
The irony of all this is that the people who struggled for this country, the African National Congress (ANC), are now being struggled against.
