The chief executive of the 2010 Fifa World Cup organising committee, Danny Jordaan, will not support any campaign that attempts to hide street children, he said on Wednesday.
"As a country, we should not be ashamed that we have the poor. We should not hide it, but address it," he said in response to a question from journalists at a media conference in Durban.
People had often asked him if the shacks and street children would be removed, he said.
"No, we can't be a society that misleads and creates a false impression. We are a country of diversity, rich and poor, employed and unemployed, and the world must know that we have massive challenges of poverty and housing and we must address these issues."
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He recalled that there had been a programme in 2006 when the street children had been gathered together, cleaned up, fed and had trained with the visiting Tottenham Hotspur team.
Perhaps another programme could be launched during 2010, he said.
Organisers would have to see what they could do to "address these issues, to restore their dignity and human worth; to give them a sense that there is a place in the future for them", he said.
"Let's not trample them. It is an unfortunate situation, but it is a reality," he said.
Jordaan was giving an update exactly 15 years to the day since South Africa wrote a letter to Fifa expressing an interest in hosting the World Cup.
Now, as the country moves towards the 200-day mark to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the stadiums "... among the best in the world" are nearing completion, ticket sales are soaring and "it is going to be... the best world cup ever", he said.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on September 17, 2009
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