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Africa as a
collective (perhaps rightfully) is claiming a piece of the glory being
fawned on South Africa for being on the verge of successfully hosting
the World Cup in Africa for the first time. Every superlative should be
ascribed to the hosts for quite a few reasons. Immediately after
liberation from apartheid and their first democratic elections in 1994,
vision with regards to the country’s policy on sports was clearly
demonstrated. They hosted their first international sports event in
1995 by co-staging and winning the Rugby World Cup. They followed it up
the next year by hosting and winning the African Nations Cup in 1996,
and then hosted the Cricket World Cup in 2003 which Australia won. At
least they don’t have the franchise to “host and win.”

Now they are on the
verge of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event for a singular
sport, the FIFA World Cup. Technically, the hosting has started as most
of the teams have already arrived South Africa and at least, all the
preparations of years are being tested in full. However, it will be
appropriate for us to examine key aspects in which they’ve excelled.

Administration/Organisation

They have made the
successful transition from organising and running successful domestic
sports to the international stage. As an effective base for this World
Cup, they have a thriving domestic soccer league with a large
passionate following of the teams. Their matches are broadcast
internationally and promoted like the best thing since sliced bread!
The Local Organising Committee also successfully managed the various
political factions and demands by several more cities to host matches
by spreading the 64 matches across nine of them. The commencement of
the tournament will throw up a few challenges, but the experience
gathered over 15 years should stand them in good stead.

Infrastructure

The government
clearly decided to use the event as a catalyst for massive spending on
badly needed transport infrastructure, as well as beefing up
telecommunications, police numbers and equipment. Their achievements in
this area are highly laudable. South Africa has invested heavily in
constructing new stadiums in Durban and Cape Town, and renovating
others to world-class standards; upgrading roads and public
transportation (trains, buses, signalling and general system-wide
upgrades) to constructing Africa’s first high-speed train system (The
Gautrain Project) that will ease transportation from the OR Tambo
International Airport into the swanky Johannesburg suburb of Sandton
for prices far less than comparisons the world over.

In a speech to the
National Treasury, Deputy Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene stated
that new construction and refurbishment of the 10 event stadiums has
had an R15billion economic impact on the country. Clearly, the
investments have been made with a vision of long-term benefits. There
can be little dispute that the World Cup has already had an enormous
positive impact across South Africa. In the long run, the ‘Rainbow
Nation’ is expectant of a long-term financial boost that will dwarf the
success of the Rugby World Cup hosted in 1995.

Creativity

The event is
observing the expression of creativity to the fullest. There are art
exhibitions like the one in Johannesburg endorsed by FIFA, which
showcases works from contemporary artists from Africa and the Diaspora
during the FIFA World Cup. Organisers hope the exhibit will show South
Africa’s commitment to hosting a truly African event. How about ‘Heroes
immortalized?’ It consists of 32 murals produced by a team of Cape Town
artists; each one paying homage to an international soccer star, as
part of its integrated effort promoting ESPN’s comprehensive coverage
of the 2010 World Cup.

The murals take
inspiration from African street signage and movie posters, and also
contain symbolic Easter Eggs for fans to discover. The world’s biggest
Vuvuzela has also been unleashed in Cape Town! The 35metre horn breaks
the Guinness World Record for size of horns by 3metres and will be
blown each time a goal is scored in the tournament. Some pessimists are
protesting the noise for potential hearing loss. I will round this up
with the imaginative studio built by SuperSport Studios.

Supporting Bafana Bafana

The passion and
building momentum in support of the national team in spite of their
average credentials is also admirable. Today, June 9 has been declared
Bafana Bafana day. All South Africans have been encouraged to come out
waving national flags and wearing colours in support of ‘the boys’
throughout the day. That has translated to increased confidence in the
squad but also heaped added pressure of greater expectation from the
passionate public used to global success.

Fittingly, over the next four weeks or so the attention of the
largest viewing audience the world has ever known will be firmly fixed
on the Rainbow Nation. Not really on these listed achievements but on
the 10 stadiums hosting 32 nations and 736 players focused on lifting
the World Cup on July 11, the last day of competition. Really, the rest
of Africa has a lot to learn from the worthy example set by the South
Africans.