Blikkiesdorp. African for ‘Tin Can Town’. A name given by its residents because of the row-upon-row of tin-like one room structures throughout the settlement (Wn.com, 2015). In preparation for World Cup, the poor in Cape Town were relocated to this area 30 kilometers outside Cape Town. Human rights campaigners say South African authorities have forcibly moved thousands of the impoverished to Blikkiesdorp and other settlements to present a good image of the nation during the World Cup (Raghavan, 2010). It is described as a dumping ground for unwanted people (Mail & Guardian, 2009) and campaigners also say conditions in Blikkiesdorp are worse than in the townships created during apartheid (Smith, 2010). Some residents have called Blikkiesdorp a “concentration camp”, and have attracted media attention with claims that it was created as part of a “clean up strategy” to tidy away Cape Town’s poor and homeless before the World Cup starts (Middleton, 2010).
By Frombelow at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
But what is the underlying problem of this case of social exclusion? Why are poor, black people relocated to these so called temporary relocation areas? In South Africa, apartheid-era policies created such deep, socially embedded inequality producing a self-reinforcing circle of social exclusion and persistent poverty as another of apartheid’s legacies (Adato, Carter and May, 2004). “It is like apartheid, only perpetrated by new faces,” said Jane Roberts, an activist with the Western Cape Anti-Eviction campaign, a group seeking to stop forced removals (Raghavan, 2010). Nkambule (2012) states that during apartheid South Africa white minority had full citizenship and majority of the population had less or no entitlement to citizenship. When the democratic government resumed office, it attempted to create a new citizenry whereby everyone would have equal access to socio-economic and political citizen rights. He argues that the South African constitution is based on common citizenship but there still are many challenges in realizing of this.
This problem can’t be tackled right away. The link between social exclusion and social class (white versus black in the apartheid-era, DS) has been firmly established (Lake, 2011). It will take decades to change South African society and to ensure common citizenship. But can a sport mega-event help improving the position of socially excluded groups and build towards common citizenship? In her research on the non-infrastructural benefits of Olympic Games Minnaert (2012) concludes that socially excluded groups in the host community are very rarely specifically targeted to be beneficiaries of the event. On the other hand public awareness for social problems and socially excluded groups could address these problems on a larger scale. Civic campaigning during South Africa’s World Cup demonstrated the way a sport mega-event can be used as a strategic entry point by civil society groups in their engagement with the state (Cornelissen, 2012). Knijnik and Spaaij (2014) state that a World Cup event can provide a global platform to the social movements and accelerate the democratic battle.
Do the inhabitants of the tin town have any hope for the future? Caroline Elliot, international programmes officer for the anti-poverty group War on Want, said (Smith, 2010): “Behind the spectacle, the World Cup is exacerbating the struggle of poor South Africans who are facing evictions, lack of public services and unemployment. The South African government needs to tackle these problems as an urgent priority.” But will the government tackle these underlying problems? Or is apartheid still a fundamental aspect of South African’s society?
Blikkiesdorp 2015. Eight years after the build residents face a new eviction (Koza, 2015). The Airports Company South Africa plans to build a runway through the informal settlement and already signed an agreement with the city of Cape Town. The community is demanding better housing and other amenities if they are to be moved. But will they? History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce (Karl Marx).
References
Adato, M., M. Carter and J. May (2004), Sense in Sociability? Social Exclusion and Persistent Poverty in South Africa, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Staff Papers
Cornelissen, S. ‘Our struggles are bigger than the World Cup’: civic activism, state-society relations and the socio-political legacies of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 63, Issue 2, pages 328–348, June 2012
Knijnik, J. and R. Spaaij (2014), Will the World Cup leave a positive legacy in Brazil?, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/will-the-world-cup-leave-a-positive-legacy-in-brazil-27397, visited 6 november 2015
Koza, N. (2015), Blikkiesdorp residents faced with eviction over a runway, EWN News,
http://ewn.co.za/2015/05/15/Blikkiesdorp-residents-faced-with-eviction-over-a-runway, visited 6 november 2015
Lake, R.J. (2011), ‘They treat me like I’m scum’: social exclusion and established-outsider relations in a British tennis club, International Review for the Sociology of Sports, 1-17
Mail & Guardian (2009), ‘Dumping ground’ for unwanted people, Mail & Guardian,
http://mg.co.za/article/2009-10-09-dumping-ground-for-unwanted-people, visited 6 november 2015
Middleton, L. (2010), SOUTH AFRICA: Give me a home, but not in a Temporary Relocation Area, IRIN News, http://www.irinnews.org/report/88970/south-africa-give-me-a-home-but-not-in-a-temporary-relocation-area, visited 6 november 2015
Minnaert, L. (2012), An Olympic legacy for all? The non-infrastructural outcomes of the Olympic Games for socially excluded groups (Atlanta 1996–Beijing 2008), Tourism Management Volume 33, Issue 2, April 2012, Pages 361–370
Nkambule, S.J. (2012), Citizenship a tool of social inclusion en exclusion in post-apartheid South Africa, Journal of Community Positive Practices (Jurnalul Practicilor Comunitare Pozitive), issue: 2 2012, pages: 170-185
Raghavan, S. (2010), In preparation for World Cup, the poor in Cape Town are being relocated, The Washington Post , 11 June 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/10/AR2010061002060.html?sid=ST2010061005061, visited 6 november 2015
Raghavan, S. (2010), South Africa’s poor complain of evictions as country prepares to host World Cup, The Washington Post, 10 June 2010, http://o.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/worldcup/2012084369_soccersaf11.html, visited 6 november 2015
Smith, D. (2010), ‘Life in ‘Tin Can Town’ for the South Africans evicted ahead of World Cup’, The Guardian, 1 April 2010, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/01/south-africa-world-cup-blikkiesdorp, visited 6 november 2015
Wn.com (2015), Blikkiesdorp Residents Accuse Acsa and City of Deciding Their Future Without Them, http://article.wn.com/view/2015/05/28/Blikkiesdorp_Residents_Accuse_Acsa_and_City_of_Deciding_Thei/, visited 6 november 2015
Note: this blog was written for the course ‘Sport, Culture and Society‘ which I attended at the University of Amsterdam in autumn 2015.
Sport en Maatschappij 
Nice, well-grounded work you’ve done here. I’d just like to add two remarks. First, it seems way too obvious to link social exclusion in South Africa to apartheid, just because the system of apartheid has played such a radical and significant role in the country’s history. But can we say there are systems of apartheid in Brazil and China, where there’s also evidence of home eviction due to mega-events.
Second, you put forward a very interesting and important question: “can a sport mega-event help improving the position of socially excluded groups and build towards common citizenship?” I’d love to see a more thorough attempt in answering this question… maybe you’ll come to that in the near future 🙂
Looking at Brazil, the country has a real democraty since 25-30 years after the military dictatorship. Almost as long as the apartheid regime was ended (formally) in South Africa. In China there is no democracy. In Russia there is democracy on paper. In Qatar the royal familiy is an absolute monarchy, thus no democracy. Can we state that in countries with a longer history of well established democracies, the positive social benefits/legacy as a result of mega sport-events, are better divided among all social groups in the specific country?
I tend to answer this question with a yes. That answers also your second question (at least partially). In host countries with an established democracy it wll be easier to makr sure that the positive social legacy of a mega sport event will benefit all social grouos in the country, not only the groups that are already included in the society (mostly middle class and richer people, mostly white people).
But what’s your idea on that last question?