Zakumi the Leopard was the official mascot for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. He is a cheerful and sporty

anthropomorphized Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September,2008. His name comes from "ZA", the

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are two-letter country codes defined in ISO 3166-1, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to represent countries, dependent territories, and special areas of ...

code for South Africa, and ''kumi'', a word that means " ten" in several

African languages The languages of Africa are divided into several major language families: * Niger–Congo or perhaps Atlantic–Congo languages (includes Bantu and non-Bantu, and possibly Mande and others) are spoken in West, Central, Southeast and Souther ...

, referencing the year 2010.

Profile

Facts

Za is a code for South Africa and kumi means ten in various African languages, so it signifies South Africa 2010. The leopard's birth date coincides with a day known and celebrated as

Youth Day National Youth Day is a holiday dedicated to the youths of a country. It is observed by 18 countries, on many dates throughout the year. The United Nations agreed on the date of 12 August in 1999 in South Africa. National Youth Day Internationa ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. The group A match played between South Africa and Uruguay ( Match 17) also coincides with Zakumi's birthday. He turned sixteen on 16 June 2010. The green and yellow (gold) colours of the character match the colours used in South African sport uniforms and can also be seen in the South Africa national football team's kit. Andries Odendaal, from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, created the original character design. The official motto of Zakumi is "Zakumi's game is Fair Play." The motto was seen in the digital advertisement boards during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and has also appeared in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Personality

Zakumi was intended to depict a jolly, self-confident, adventurous, and spontaneous mascot. He was shown as loving to perform and always following his instincts and intuition. He was also shown as sometimes having the tendency to exaggerate somewhat. He is often found fooling about and teasing people, but not in a mean way. Zakumi was originally created by Andries Odendaal of Cape Town and the promotional costume was produced by Cora Simpson. He is warm-hearted and caring, and wanted to make as many friends as possible. He loves to play football as it is a great way to connect with others and break down language barriers. He always carries his football around which he uses to invite people to play with him. It's no secret that Zakumi loves football. At one time, he decided to dye his hair green as he felt it would be the perfect camouflage against the green of the football pitch; a bit like his rosette spots are when hunting in the wilderness! He does have one striking weakness. With all his energy, he requires frequent rests. Occasionally, between performances on stage, he may suddenly fall asleep on the spot at the most random times! But rest assured, these are only short breaks that a leopard of his calibre needs to recharge his batteries.

Life

Over the last years, he has travelled the whole of Africa where the leopard habitat is sufficient (pretty much everywhere from open savannahs, forests, jungles to mountainous areas, even deserts). He has therefore learned to adapt to new environments; enjoying the diversity in nature and people across the African continent.

Controversies

A contract for the manufacture of Zakumi figurines was awarded to a company owned by Dr.

Shiaan-Bin Huang Shiaan-Bin Huang () was a member of parliament of South Africa and member of the African National Congress (ANC). He was also regional chairman of the IFP before floor crossing to the ANC. Huang has a PhD Business Administration (US) as well a ...

, who is an

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

representative member in the South African Parliament. The manufacture of the figurines was outsourced to Shanghai Fashion Plastic Products in China. The value of the contract was in excess of US$112 million. Due to concerns over the loss of jobs in the South African manufacturing sector, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (

COSATU The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union expelled, ...

) has suggested that more merchandise of 2010 be sourced locally. The allegation of

sweatshop A sweatshop or sweat factory is a crowded workplace with very poor, socially unacceptable or illegal working conditions. Some illegal working conditions include poor ventilation, little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting, o ...

conditions at the Shanghai Fashion Plastic Products factory led to an audit by

Global Brands Group Global Brands Group Holding Limited () is a bankrupt holding company that has its own brand of apparel and footwear, as well as being a brand management company. It designs, develops, markets and sells products under a diverse array of owned and ...

(master licensee of the brand FIFA World Cup 2010), which revealed a number of non-compliance issues with policies of GBC. The manufacturer denied the allegations of sweatshop conditions, and claimed that the working conditions at the Shanghai Fashion Plastic Products factory were "very good".

References

External links

FIFA's official webpage on Zakumi
* {{2010 FIFA World Cup 2010 FIFA World Cup Fictional leopards South African mascots FIFA World Cup mascots