AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - World Soccer Cup: “let's use the same determination to tackle the country's social problems" Christian leaders say

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides)- After South Africa's success in hosting the first-ever soccer World Cup in Africa, the government needs to use the same determination to deal with the country's social problems, say church leaders.
“We must use our considerable ability and learn to tackle the most urgent issues in our country: education, healthcare, crime and inefficient basic services for the people” said Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Catholic Archbishop of Durban, according to Ecumenical News International ENI news agency
Cardinal Napier also said that South Africa is a society in transformation and that the World Soccer Cup gave the country an opportunity to work together and demonstrate that it is a nation of very capable people.
“It was a wonderful World Cup but this does not alter the fact that the majority of South Africans have no homes, schools, hospitals, running water and many other things ", Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel peace prize winner told the South African Times newspaper. “If we achieved this sort of project in only 6 years imagine what we could have done in 20", he added.
South Africa was praised by the President of the FIFA, the world soccer federation for the way in which it organised the World Soccer Cup 2010. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 31/7/2010)