In a community hall on Cape Flats, the densely populated sandy plateau flanked by Cape Town’s hills and mountains, David Abrahams watches as a dozen or so young footballers practise one-twos ahead of next month’s Homeless World Cup in Denmark.

The goals and other kit used by the men are noticeably smart and new, a legacy of the investment that came when Cape Town hosted the annual football tournament last year – and a foretaste of the much bigger spending planned when South Africa hosts the 2010 Fifa World Cup.