RSA- 2010 World Cup Bid Winner

All I saw were the words "South Africa" as the card was being pulled from the envelope. After that, the crowds erupted and I was deafened for the next few seconds.

15 May, 2004 marked the day on which many South Africans around the country did a lot of flag waving, Vuvuzela (horn) blowing and screaming, and I was there on scene. United by big screens, crowds gathered to await the announcement of the country who would host the 2010 World Cup. It would be the first time that an African country would host the games and South Africa proved that "We are the champions".

I didn't participate in the festivities on purpose- I just kind of ended up there. I was intent on visiting the Museum Africa in Newtown, Joburg that day and arrived to find that the entire entrance of the museum was blocked by a big stage where music concerts would start after the announcement of the World Cup bid winners. We decided to stay since we had driven all that way. Watching the big screen with other face-painted South Africans, I could feel the emotions mounting. I was a bit scared that the crowd would turn mob if SA didn't win, similar to the Canucks riots in '95.

When Vancouver was waiting for the announcement of its 2010 Olympic bid, I avoided any celebration at all costs because of all the controversy surrounding potential social problems that might result. Even though there were groups of people eagerly awaiting a Vancouver victory, protests were happening all over the city at the same time. Displacement of people, potential of debts, unwanted hub of visitors and a pulling of social services funding were just some of the reasons facing opponents of the Vancouver 2010 bid.

I haven't figured out the South African situation yet but from the surface, it looks like an entirely different one from Canada. Being a very new democratic country with a high population of citizens living below the breadline, hosting the World Cup means job creation and money into SA for many people. I have a few qualms about this though. On the radio, the announcer was so excited about job creation ("Can you imagine selling 10 000 hotdogs to visitors and how much money that means?"), but how sustainable is job creation once the Cup is over with only temporary service jobs? With only ten years of freedom under their belt, there has been great efforts in creating a South African identity and the World Cup can help foster that. I was told that the presence of Nelly Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Thabi Mbeki and FW de Klerk in Zurich, boosted the votes in favour of SA.

I can't picture the whole of Canada holding thumbs for a Vancouver victory, but the whole of SA seems to deem this victory as an important one. Strangers were hugging strangers, crowds rejoiced and danced in solidarity. It was strangely emotional in a detached way for me. Then I realized that I was happy for them.

Visit: http://www.iafrica.com/pls/cms/cm_show_gallery?p_gid=861&p_site_id=2