Human Labor

Here in South Africa I’ve noticed that there are very frequently multiple people doing jobs that in the states would only take one. Instead of five tellers at the bank there are ten. Instead of ten police there are twenty. Instead of no housekeepers, there are two. There are just a lot more people available for cheap labor.

My guess is that the social classes here in SA are so vast that the “haves” can hire many more “have-nots” to make sure that a job gets done properly due to the social stratification. It has allowed for an overwhelming police presence at many of the soccer matches in and around the stadiums--which I will admit made me feel a bit safer wandering around a foreign city at 3AM a few Hansas deep.

It is staggering that the unemployment in this country is often estimated between 30 and 40%. This means that there are MANY people vying for any job or opportunity to earn any amount of money. That being said, I came across many people living in townships that weren't necessarily "employed" but loved their life just as it was...hanging out with friends and family and living off of the little land they had procured.

FIFA coming in with thick wallets were able to secure the stadiums, cities, and locker rooms ten times over. If you looked around the stadium, you would see that every square inch bordering the field was manned by police. There were cops everywhere and it definitely made us think twice about streaking the field.

With all of this instant employment, there were big disputes. At Moses Mabhida Stadium in durban, the police and security guards were promised a specific wage to be temporarily employed for the cup, but reports estimated that they received FAR less. In some cases, they were promised around $65 for a 12 hour shift and their post-shift pay check came out to only $25. While in South Africa, its not uncommon for people to live on roughly $2 a day, fair is fair and the guards were not happy.

I'm glad that some of the South Africans that wanted to work were able to for the short month of the cup, but I also hope that this influx in money was not just hoarded by the already wealthy corporations of South Africa. It is a shame when people are promised a wage and not given what they are worth. My hope is that the trickle-down theory in affect does work, but in a country still writhing from apartheid, my guess is the top are still on top and the people on the bottom won't really be the main benefactors.