Five months later, the World Cup brings new hope to SA

South Africa and football governing body Fifa have unveiled a 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust aimed at boosting education, health, humanitarian activities and football development in the county following the successful hosting of the first Fifa World Cup on African soil.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust was unveiled by Fifa, the South African government and the SA Football Association (Safa) in Johannesburg on Monday.

Making good on its pledge to ensure that the country continues to benefit from the 2010 World Cup, Fifa has injected US$100-million into the legacy trust. The trust will be administered by international auditing firm Ernst and Young, while trustees from Fifa, the government, Safa and the private sector will evaluate projects for investment.

Projects aimed at benefiting the public will be submitted to the trustees for review and will be selected in the areas of football, education and development, health care and humanitarian activities.

As a first project financed by the trust, Fifa purchased 35 of the World Cup team buses and a fleet of 52 vehicles, which were handed over to SAFA for transport of their regional teams.

You have outshined: Blatter
"We've achieved our goals with regard to the successful hosting of the Fifa World Cup event, and now remains a difficult but most important task - to ensure a lasting legacy and to build world-class national teams at both youth and senior level," Fifa president Sepp Blatter told journalists in Johannesburg on Monday.

"This is also a reward for South Africans for having been such great hosts," Blatter said. "In 2004, when we took a decision to give you the right to organise the World Cup, you were still a young democratic republic, but you've outshined in delivering a great event."

President Jacob Zuma said Monday's occasion "enables us to proudly look back on 2010 as the coming of age of our young nation".

As part of the bidding process for the 2010 World Cup, Zuma said South Africa had signed 17 guarantees with Fifa, and undertook that these were to be used as a catalyst to meet the developmental needs of the country.

Education 'a life-long investment': Zuma
"Being a developing country, we wanted the tournament to be about more than just football," Zuma said. "We wanted Africa's first World Cup to be a continental showpiece that was owned by all Africans, and we wanted it to leave a developmental legacy. We achieved our goals," he said.

One tangible legacy that had to come out of the World Cup was education, Zuma said, adding that the One Goal Education Campaign should not be seen as having been a once-off promotional campaign that died with the World Cup.

"Linking soccer with education takes the beautiful game to the youth and ensures its future. The game of football is in the main played by the youth, and education is in the main about investing in the youth, and therefore to put education as one of the key legacy projects is very important."

Zuma said education was a life-long investment that could break the chain of poverty in the country and in Africa.

"We want the children of Africa to remember the first Soccer World Cup on African soil as one that planted the seeds of true universal access to education and a better life."

(Source: BuaNews - Nthambeleni Gabara)