Just where is the African culture at the World Cup?

Jon Stewart has a rather annoying habit of downplaying the journalistic significance of The Daily Show, preferring to refer to it a comedy show rather than what it really is; one of the best sources of TV news that we’ve got. Another example of that came on Thursday, with John Oliver’s report from the World Cup. In reporting that the government has banned all local merchants from within a one-mile radius of stadium venues — clearing the way for official World Cup corporate sponsors such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Adidas — Oliver had this interesting exchange with Nkosinathi Jikeka, an advocate for the local vendors:

OLIVER (voiceover): “They even provided the local street vendors, who have been working the stadiums for decades, with their own special zone; conveniently located nowhere near bothersome customers.”

JIKEKA: “FIFA has imposed one-kilometer radius from the stadium, inside which street vendors won’t be allowed to trade. People who have been preferred in this World Cup will be McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and all those European companies. Now you tell me, what is African about that?”

OLIVER: “Well, let me put it to you this way. What’s more African than the subjugation of black people?”

Video following the jump.

Indeed.

Several South African groups have launched protests over these “exclusion zones.” From Euronews:

Sponsors have paid high prices to set up stands around the Soccer City stadium and don’t want to have local rivals undercutting their merchandise. Street sellers held a protest march last week – there are some 20,000 in the Johannesburg area alone – but it’s unlikely to have much impact.

Snack bars too have had to shut down to make way for official tournament caterers.

Cecilia Dube’s stall right next to the stadium used to earn her more than 300 euros a week – it’s been shut down since early May.

“For me it’s three weeks only I’m not trading but already I’ve seen a big difference, it’s like my life is in a halt or something. It’s not moving just for three weeks. So think for the whole month. After that whole month we don’t know what’s going to happen. It might happen that after the World Cup, they say no traders anymore.”

In addition, stadium security guards and ushers recently went on strike to protest low wages. And in Durban, many vendors and subsistence fishermen have been evicted from a pier and beachfront area that has been redeveloped for the World Cup.
FIFA says that it won’t ban the vuvuzela due to it being a symbol of South African culture, even though by most accounts in never really showed up — at least in its current form — until very recently. Meanwhile, it has stood by and done nothing as genuine African culture is swept and scrubbed from all World Cup venues in favor of Happy Meals and Bud Light. Of course if they end up plowing that sponsorship money back into the local infrastructure, that would be good. But why do I have a feeling that’s not going to be the case?
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South African street vendors protest as official sponsors move in [Euronews]
World Cup bonanza bypasses many South Africans [WTOP]