A top World Cup official has slammed the British media for "Afro-pessimism" and negative reporting on South Africa.

Laurine Platzky, Western Cape deputy director-general and 2010 Fifa World Cup co-ordinator, said the biased reporting belied what was proving to be a hugely successful event.

"My feeling is that we have been the victim of Afro-pessimism at the highest level," Platzky said at a press briefing in Cape Town yesterday.

"The British media I can't begin to understand. I think there are people who sit in different parts of the world who think that they know Africa."

Platzky said an exit poll of foreign tourists leaving South Africa in the past few weeks suggested the World Cup had been a huge success.

The infrastructure and experience gained in hosting the tournament would have significant long-term benefits for all South Africans, she said.

The event had also contributed to much-needed social cohesion and had cushioned South Africa from the worst effects of the worldwide economic recession.

National, provincial and local government arms were forced to work together, which boded well for the future, Platzky said. Rivalries between provincial and national government departments were set aside, which augured well for the improvement of the delivery of services.

Other speakers at the briefing lashed out at World Cup killjoys, claiming the event had given South Africa a major boost of self-confidence.

"People have always been warned about South Africa falling on its face," said author Guy Lundy. "But that hasn't happened. Conditions are better than they've ever been.

"The image of South Africa is starting to turn and that is very positive for us," Lundy said.

Yesterday's comments follow last week's furore over the arrest of a journalist from the British Sunday Mirror, whom police accused of paying an English soccer fan, Pavlos Joseph, to barge into the England team's change-room after their match against Algeria.

The journalist, Simon Wright, who has been made to surrender his passport, is expected to appear tomorrow in Cape Town's World Cup court.

South African police chief General Bheki Cele claimed Wright orchestrated the incident in an attempt to "put the World Cup in a bad light and profit from this act".

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