The turning of the shrew
Posted on 24. Jun, 2010 by admin in Headlines and Opinions
by Naomi Mackay
Yes, it is here. But how well South Africans have done in selling ourselves is debatable. One often hears people (foreigners) say that South Africans are their country’s own worst enemy. Do we leave it to the Brits to say how bad crime is in South Africa because some guy was mugged while walking down some deserted alley and talking on his mobile? (And yes I know there are worse crimes than these!) No, we lay into the government and the police, into the president and all his men and women. Do we leave it to the Germans to talk about our lethargic service delivery or how we should fear for the dark nights because Eskom can’t get together its act? Or how the roads with all their potholes in this country would never compare to Australia’s beautiful highways? Or how Bafana Bafana is a lost cause? No, we are quite good at digging up the dirt ourselves and advertising it internationally at any given time and opportunity.
Well, this column was meant to be about how ridiculously high the prices were for accommodation and for airfares and bus fares, but you know what my dears….frankly, I don’t give a damn. I cannot sit here and write a single bad word. Not today, not tomorrow and perhaps I never will again be scornful of how things are going in this country – perhaps. I can still see Tshabalala move towards the goal posts to deliver the most incredibly beautiful shot, and I can still feel the thrill as the net danced at the impact of that boot. And the scenes from the stadium, Bafana’s little sideshow dance, the crowd’s ecstatic roars, the great spectacle of South Africa’s colours adorning heads and eyes and ears in some form or another, left me speechless. No, wait, I do remember uttering some weird hoarse AAAAHHHH and nearly falling over the coffee table with the rest of my family as we each tried in our little lounge to do our version of the diskie dance. Have any of you actually seen someone do that right?
And that’s the wonder of this World Cup, now that IT IS HERE! And it comes in the wonderful shape of the Makarapa, the invention of Alfred Baloyi, 51, a Limpopo municipal worker. Baloyi made good of bad when he saw another fan suffer a blow on the head after a bottle was thrown from the stands at a Kaizer Chiefs match in 1979 – ooooh, our very own hooliganism! The safety construction hat proved a reliable protection against such missiles, and the Chiefs flag gradually turned into more and more elaborate adornment. Driving through the streets is like being in our own version of Men in Black, with motor cars sporting mirror socks and flags, some painted in SA colours, and drivers wearing everything from South African scarves and hats and shirts to Gogolos and fans walking on the pavements in all their regalia and their wonderful head gear – aliens of a different order. View Makaraka Media
The constant drone of the Vuvuzela on TV and at stadiums around the country has elicited much debate, but the offending trumpet has survived. And it was not only a hit at Bafana Bafana match. I bet the Portuguese can show us a thing or two about blowing that horn.
We wait for Bafana Bafana to take on their next opponent, and we hope for victory. But regardless, the euphoria of a nation, the rush that every TV clip of the home team brings, and the palpable excitement of youngsters rushing to the fan parks to enjoy the moments of brilliant soccer played on massive screens – all these speak of a success that was unimaginable for South Africa, but which we have proudly attained, and with it a oneness that we should foster.
