Thousands of South Africans staged a march to protest against lavish spending on the tournament and the sacking of security staff, inflicting a new embarrassment on organisers.
As the country marked the 34th anniversary of the Soweto uprising against apartheid rule, about 3000 people marched in Durban to denounce Fifa and the government for their spending priorities when millions live in poverty.
"Get out Fifa mafia!" chanted the crowds in a Durban park, their ranks swelled by stewards who were involved in clashes with riot police after protests over their wages.
Monday's protests triggered walkouts by other stewards, which have led South Africa's police to take control at the World Cup stadiums in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Durban.
Ever since it was awarded the staging rights, South Africa's government has faced accusations it should not be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on stadiums when about 40% of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
"If we have money for stadiums, we should not have any homeless people or people having to live in shacks," organiser Allan Murphy said ahead of the protest.
Much of the marchers' ire was directed towards Fifa, which has made record amounts of money from the first World Cup to be held in Africa.
Football's governing body has insisted that the dispute over stewards' wages is not its responsibility, having sub-contracted the work.
But there is widespread anger among South Africans towards Fifa, whose demands for a smooth-running tournament has seen the government pour R33-billion ($4,3-billion) into World Cup preparations.
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