Building a white elephant? The case of the Cape Town Stadium

ABSTRACT

South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2010. This paper will argue that the Cape Town Stadium and post-event outcome was not undertaken significantly differently to other mega-events held elsewhere. When planning large-scale events, stakeholders need to be aware of three issues that include the pressures with hosting events, the mechanisms and processes for hosting events, and communication issues. Many of the reservations that objectors and sceptics had with the new Cape Town Stadium have come true, and there have been problematic cost-benefit ratios because of minimal post-event usage. A critical review of the literature indicates that the majority of people place the responsibility of mega-event development in the control of the government and market. The method consisted of an analysis of keywords, the development of focus areas, a review of papers, and text analysis of titles and abstracts. Findings question whether a host country’s economy is benefited or harmed and the unintended consequences that occur. Support is given if clear and justifiable, if benefits are seen by stakeholders. There is evidence that local governments are propelled internationally using legal, political, and economic resources. Policymaking and strategy making through communication are not always engaged in by the same sets of stakeholders. Event expectations and post-event realities continue to be a mismatch. Local authorities should be implementing sustainable practices, which include environmental, economic, financial, and social impacts. Long-term planning for post-event integration and use covering 10–20 years should be facilitated. The paper concludes that the stadium is at a crossroads, with possible stakeholder inertia in formulating alternative proposals in addressing this infrastructure and site use. The paper will propose a research framework for investigating the dynamics of infrastructure development for major events.

KEYWORDS:

• Cape Town Stadium
• communication
• FIFA World Cup
• event impacts
• event pressures
• international events
• legacy
• mechanisms and processes
• mega-events
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Drummond

Richard Drummond is a D Tech (Design) student.

Johannes Cronje

Prof Johannes Cronje is Dean: Faculty of Informatics and Design.