Apparently the LOC is a private body - FIFA a swiss club?

This is an argument, among several, made by an advocated I hold in very high regard - the man taught me many years ago and always mesmerised me. I now get the urge to go back to my notes, just to check. I never thought about the status of the LOC as an entity until this morning when I stumbled on the story about it being in court defending an application by the Mail & Guardian, which wants copies of tender documents. Apparently the M&G wants to show the SA public who and what benefitted from the world cup infrastructure spend.

Back to what is the LOC. Once the question popped into my head I approached the source of all my seeming wisdom - google. If the imminent advocate is correct that the LOC is a private body and should not bow to the government procurement policies and legislation, then how come this site has such a distinct government feel? The content of the page, as you will see (bottom left) is copyright of the GCIS (Government Communications and Information Services). This is apart from the prominent SA Coat of Arms (top left) and this page which sets out how, contrary to the advocate's argument the government of SA provided guarantees to, entered into agreements with and passed an Act of Parliament as requiered by FIFA. The advocate contrarianly and with a straight face I presume, argued that the agreements are between FIFA and SAFA - not the government.

I seem to think I remember (if not hallucinating) various officers of the LOC proclaiming that they are doing this whole world cup thing for the people of SA not for themselves or for SAFA - but I may be wrong. What then is the difficulty with a request to show us how they made it happen for us? These are the kind of actions that lead us ordinary folk to think that there may be something to hide.

There may be a whole lot of reasons why the LOC would not want us to know who the beneficiaries of the world cup largese are but that they are a private body who owe us South Africans no such information, cannot be one such reason. For the LOC, through their legal representatives to argue such is simply disrespectful if not contemptuous.

Now, let us see what the judge is going to rule.