Is South Africa 2010 Worth The Money?

South Africa’s budget for hosting the 2010 World Cup this week hit an estimated $3.7 billion.

The cost has risen more than twelve-fold from an original estimate of $295 million.

So is the continent’s first hosting of the world’s biggest single-sport event worth the money?

It is an emotive argument, but with this sum of money, how many hospitals, clinics and schools have been built or improved, in a country where more than four million people live on less than a dollar a day?

The legacy of the World Cup is of questionable value, as the country already has good football facilities.

A new stadium in Cape Town was built, against the wishes of residents, on a golf course, in a city where there are already two perfectly good stadiums.

Other venues are being expanded, at huge cost, but will probably never be filled to capacity after the conclusion of the World Cup.

The country will benefit from a rail link between Pretoria and Johannesburg, but even government is concerned about the ever-increasing budget.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said spending could not be "open-ended".

So is it time for the country to say that enough is enough, and end the excessive and unjustified spending, for the sake of the South African people?