Joburg must lose it's crime magnet reputation

The vibrant, progressive city of Johannesburg has to shrug off its reputation as a crime magnet if it is to become one of the great World Cup venues.

Built almost literally on gold and the mines that made it the economic hub of the nation, Johannesburg also boasts hugely enthusiastic football fans who have the potential to make the 2010 World Cup an enormous success.

With the 87,000-capacity Soccer City stadium in Soweto and the 62,500-seat Ellis Park close to the city center, Johannesburg has all the ingredients to make this championship one of the best with noisy fans inside the stadiums backed up by a carnival atmosphere outside.

Many of the expected 450,000 visiting fans will also head for "Jozi" because 21 of the 64 games are in the region and that will also give the city a golden chance to make an impact.

The downside, however, is that many of those visitors might be targeted by those who put crime above the need to make this a trouble-free World Cup.

Those visitors, whether they be from England, the United States, Germany or Brazil, will have to get used to being told to take taxis instead of a short walk, to not go out alone at night and to leave their valuables in their hotels.

While that sort of advice was also given in World Cup venues such as Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Marseille and Seoul over the years, it appears to be the normal way of life in this city. While the locals have become used to it, visitors may well find it intimidating.

With a population of 3.8 million, Johannesburg is on a plateau, known as the Highveld. Because the city is about 1,750 meters (5,700 feet) above sea level, teams and fans will have to get used to the thinner air which at first leaves visitors slightly breathless.

Although the winters are mainly sunny and warm during the day, it gets cold at night and visitors are recommended to take sweaters and warm coats. Thankfully, the winters are usually dry.

The city developed rapidly in the late 19th century after huge gold deposits were discovered and workers flooded the area.

Although mining has ceased, there are big mounds of displaced earth around the city -some close to Soccer City.

The gold mining industry created a fast-growing city with tall office buildings in the center and high-quality shopping malls in nearby Sandton reflect the wealth. The once-thriving Central Business District is now a troubled area, not to be visited by tourists at night unless they are in a car.

That affluence has been slow to spread to the largely black population, however. Even though apartheid ended in the early 1990s, many people still live the township existence of tin huts and a general lack of amenities.

The comparatively wealthy live behind high walls covered with barbed wire with their homes shielded by elaborate security systems, ferocious guard dogs and even guards in sentry huts.

What the city lacks in beauty, it makes up for in terms of hospitality.

Among the shopping malls of Sandton and Rosebank are high quality restaurants and busy bars with good value South African wines. Soweto, the famous township to the southwest of Johannesburg, has been considerably redeveloped, has its own funky nightlife and has become a major tourist attraction in itself.

Like most major cities, Johannesburg has major traffic problems although many major roads have been improved for the World Cup.

Oliver Tambo airport is a 30-minute drive depending on the traffic and handles daily international flights from around the world. It is also the main point of entrance for visitors who are en route to other South African cities, although Cape Town and Durban also take direct international flights.