It’s been ten years. Ten years since the hearts of South Africans were shattered when Sepp Blatter pulled the card with the word “Deutschland” out of an envelope.
Ten years since Charles Dempsey became the most despised man on South African soil. Ten years since the world wondered whether Africa would ever get the chance to host the Fifa World Cup.
It’s been ten years. Ten years since the hearts of South Africans were shattered when Sepp Blatter pulled the card with the word “Deutschland” out of an envelope.
Ten years since Charles Dempsey became the most despised man on South African soil. Ten years since the world wondered whether Africa would ever get the chance to host the Fifa World Cup.
I was just 13 at the time and, like many South Africans on 6 July 2000, had gathered with my family to watch the bid.
I’d followed the run-up closely, listened to the comments made by both Fifa President Sepp Blatter and CAF President Isaac Hayatou that South Africa was ready to host the world’s biggest event.
I had already had made up my mind that this Danny Jordaan character (scruffy and disorganised as he might look) would bring the World Cup home.
I’d watched South Africa both host and win the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and the African Cup of Nations in 1996.
I’d followed a World Cup for the first time during France in 1998 and – being the most amazing tournament I’d ever seen I had no doubt that if it came to South Africa in 2006, we’d win it as well.
As a child who grew up during the infancy of our democracy, I was brought up on a diet of optimism so I knew little about power-relations or about the politics of the world.
Listening to people around me, I realised that South Africans were bitterly disappointed, but not at all surprised that the country and the continent had been screwed over.
President Thabo Mbeki described it as a setback in Africa’s efforts to gain international sporting recognition, but it was more than that.
It was a setback in Africa’s efforts to gain any recognition whatsoever. The choice made by Charles Dempsey to abstain from voting and hand the bid to Germany was not just based on his own uncertainty that South Africa could host the tournament but represented the entire world’s hesitance in allowing the World Cup to come to Africa.
As the years passed, I also realised that many South Africans were themselves uncertain. Every delayed plane, mugging in a public area or failed development project was followed by a murmur: “Just as well it’s in Germany.”
It seemed as if we had internalised and affirmed the world’s insecurities about our capabilities as a nation. This wave of cynicism continued to grow even as Fifa declared that the 2010 tournament would take place in Africa.
In 2004, when South Africa’s name was finally pulled out of the envelope, the jubilation in our streets and living rooms was followed almost immediately by a fresh wave of second-guessing and negativity.
Plans were made and approved, comments and judgements passed and deadlines were set. Talk that the government was hopelessly behind schedule, that South Africa’s socio-political climate was too volatile, or that Fifa was secretly preparing Australia to host the tournament if South Africa couldn’t cope, all fed fears that the country would never be ready to host the event.
I was much less optimistic this time and felt that the country would fail, both on the field and off. Despite this, I wanted to be hopeful.
So I read and researched as much as I could about the prospects of hosting the tournament. I read up on the security plans and how people would be accommodated.
I looked at all the red tape Fifa and its partners had put in place and tried to gauge how this would affect trade and access among locals during the World Cup.
As a football fan, I took a keen interest in Bafana’s chances at the tournament, analysing their records and comparing them to other African teams and nations who had previously hosted the event.
In almost all areas, it seemed that on paper, South Africa had everything to lose from hosting the World Cup. But as the months drew nearer, something began to change.
People began embracing the idea that the World Cup was coming to South Africa. City-dwellers who thought that building new stadiums was a waste of money are now feeling proud of the awesome structures.
Football Friday, a concept once thought absurd, took off colourfully throughout the country. Marketing phrases became adopted into everyday language and even silly theme songs about waving flags or Africa’s time being now are being hummed by even the biggest cynics.
Bafana Bafana refused to go down quietly in the Confederations Cup and went on to win match after match, albeit against weak opposition.
The lowly-ranked side grew in stature, looking more like a team and commanding more respect in the eyes of the public with every game.
Today, South Africa will host Mexico in the opening match of Africa’s first World Cup and there can be no doubt that the country is feeling something that it has never felt before a national and united spirit that can’t be quantified or analysed on paper.
It’s been ten years, and the people of South Africa will show that Africa is not only capable and ready to host the World Cup, but ready to prove the world wrong.
