Proudly South African comment count

• News
• June 29, 2010 ∥
• By Roy Barford

A Dutch fan blows his vuvuzela. Photo by Roy Barford

Ghana and Australia fans. Photo by Travis Robertson

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is often quoted as saying “Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language … It is to say, ‘My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in what is yours.’” Many South Africans will know precisely what he means, but now, with the advent of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the whole world has the opportunity to find out.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ was destined to be a tournament unlike any other; taking place on African soil for the first time, it was bound to be a joyous celebration of colour, noise and cultural diversity. South Africa is home to 49-million people, has 11 official languages, but all of those united in one voice to support our soccer team Bafana Bafana and our country. 

South Africans were always going to be excellent hosts; it is in our nature. Our mothers taught us to present our home and manners at their very best for visitors, to take out our best crockery, put some fresh flowers on the table and prepare our signature meal, whether that is bobotie, maize and meat, a Cape Malay curry or leg of lamb with roast potatoes. And if one or two extra guests showed up, there would always be a place at the table for them too. 

It is the extent to which the country has united behind the World Cup as hosts that has been a wonderful surprise to all of us. The South African flag has been taking pride of place on car windows, roofs, mirrors, t-shirts, jewellery, private homes and businesses for weeks leading up to the tournament. From the moment that Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the first goal of the World Cup it was as if patriotism erupted in South Africa. 

Cape Town in particular has been lauded for rolling out the rainbow carpet to our visitors, showcasing our beautiful natural environment, culture and heritage, offering fine food and wine. The FIFA Fan Fest™ in Cape Town is currently the third most visited Fan Fest, following shortly after Germany and Johannesburg. Our Fan Walk saw a record number of 72 910 people take this route to get to and from the stadium on June 24, 2010. Fan Jols were often operating at full capacity as well. 

This sense of excitement, ownership and pride is exactly what Cape Town Tourism wanted to achieve with our citizen activation campaign, Live it, Love it, LOUDER! We would like to believe that we have played our part over the past year in igniting this excitement with the blare of vuvuzelas, sounds of CODA’s Blow your vuvuzela and several magical moments like Diski dancing on the city streets. If you are proudly wearing your Cape Town t-shirt right now or extending your warmest, most colourful welcome to our visitors we would like to thank you for adding to what will be an unforgettable experience for many visitors. The Mother City has already cast her spell on our guests and we are confident that we shall see many of them returning to our shores. 

We couldn’t possibly speak of proud and colourful displays of patriotism without paying homage to our soccer fans, who have astounded all of us with their spirit. From the moment the French marched into the stadium clad in red, white and blue, with Uruguay sporting sky blue wigs, followed by a British onslaught during a match against Algeria and virtually every pub in Cape Town drunk dry, to the steady stream of extremely orange people that took to our city streets on the June 24 – “die Kaap was weer Hollands” – it has been an amazing, goosebump-inducing spectacle. 

Vasco Da Gama FC has planned a colourful Portuguese parade for the clash against Spain this evening at Cape Town Stadium. In the words of parade organiser and the club’s chairman, Mario Das Neves, “We are really looking forward to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ clash against Spain and can’t wait to get ready for the match. We are passionate fans and are proud to travel to the city with so many South African Portuguese football lovers. It will be two great sides playing at an amazing stadium. May the best team win … We believe Portugal 2, Spain 1!”