so glad to know there is another south african out there with the same love of travel. although i am sure there are many south africans out there, i have found other south african backpackers somewhat of a rarity in my experience.

also very interested in reading more about your travels in africa, unfortunately haven’t done much of it myself but definitely hope to in the future!

I’ve fallen in love with Matador for many of the same reasons as you. But I think the best part is the people. Everyone is just so ridiculously supportive!

I love your blog, by the way. I especially like how you’ve meshed that food stop pic into the background (Well, plus it’s in SEA so it was bound to catch my eye anyway!) A long haul the length of Africa or from Alaska to Patagonia have always been on my to do list. Maybe some day??

Enjoy your internship!

Still, I stand by what I wrote, for a couple of reasons. I think it’s unfair to say I’ve stereotyped South Africa. Not only did I source the statements I made, I took them from South African authorities. The figures on the price increases came from a South African economist, being quoted in a South African newspaper. I didn’t come up with the claim that the increase in child abandonment had something to do with rising food prices, South African social workers in Johannesburg said that in a Sky News report. I’m not guessing that half of all South Africans live in poverty – I took that figure from a report by the South African Regional Poverty Network – the most current figure they provide actually says 57% (http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000990/).

As for Freeman, I’ve quoted him as a gardener and a ground-level reaction to the concerns about prices that have been expressed. I’d agree with you that the specific figures he gives for price inflation aren’t scientific – he’s not an economist, and I didn’t use his numbers for that reason.

I haven’t said that food prices would “quintuple” that there would be a “borderline famine”, or even that there would be a “severe food shortage”. What I DID say was that economists (not me) had predicted a “small increase in the price of food”, and that this predicted increase was “part of a global shift, of which World Cup-related demand is just an exacerbating factor.” I don’t know if I’d say that’s illogical.

Leigh’s also right – I don’t draw any conclusions, this is more of an investigative piece that asks a question and looks at the evidence for it and the possible effects, rather than an argumentative piece. I’m certainly not saying this is a new problem, or that it’s unique to South Africa – it’s pretty well established that when countries host these kind of events, as often as not, the businesses that don’t participate directly as suppliers or catering to tourists actually lose more on it than they gain (it happened pretty notably at the Athens Olympics).

I’ll stop there. I like the blog, Richard – adding it to my reader.

I’m also glad to hear there are Jacarandas in the town too. :)