The play's the thing, and South Africans know it. Neither AIDS nor match-fixing scandals can now stop them from hosting the 2010 World Cup. Gamal Nkrumah writes from Pretoria Africa has been given the opportunity to show the world how the beautiful game should be played. And what better venue than South Africa, a country that has through bitter experience and much perseverance learned how to steer a course between heaven and hell. A double "A" has left many South Africans traumatised: apartheid and AIDS. Mercifully, the first has been consigned to the dustbin of history, even though its ill-effects linger on. The second is very much present. South Africa, the country with the world's highest rate of infection with HIV/AIDS, faces economic collapse unless the pandemic is contained within a decade. At once both first world and third, South Africa is a land of sharp contrasts. Life's a peach in Pretoria -- for the well- heeled at any rate -- far removed from the worlds of soccer and HIV/AIDS. In South Africa, rugby is the game for affluent whites. Soccer is the solace and passion of the impoverished blacks of the townships long denied political, social and human rights. For the downtrodden, the black youth of South Africa in particular, winning the 2010 bid was one way to experience the thrill of world-class football at home. Post-apartheid South Africa is no Utopia but the country, ravaged by HIV/AIDS, is deemed worthy enough to stage a World Cup. A decade ago, South Africa was a pariah state, barred from playing soccer internationally, let alone hosting, such an earth-shattering event as the World Cup. South Africa made its debut into world soccer in July 1992 when it beat Cameroon 1-0 in the country's Indian Ocean port of Durban. There was no turning back. At the FIFA ceremony in Zurich announcing the winner of 2010, the sight of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first post- apartheid president, clutching the cup and weeping with joy instantly dispelled any lingering doubts about the country's past still haunting it -- at least as far as sports is concerned. That image of Mandela, who this week celebrated his 86th birthday, was worthy to be deemed iconic for he embodies the South African dream. South Africa needed 13 of the 24 votes on the FIFA executive to win the bid to host the World Cup. In the event they got 14. Obviously, the South Africans worked hard behind the scenes to win the hearts and minds of FIFA's executive committee. No costs were spared. FIFA president Sepp Blatter, recipient of the Order of Good Hope awarded by South Africa, clearly favoured the "Rainbow Nation" as the country is now called. Be that as it may, South Africa went in the 2010 bid with a bit of trepidation. Humbled in 2000 by being denied the honour of hosting the 2006 World Cup by one vote to Germany, South Africans began to work in earnest to win the 2010 bid. "Work for winning the 2010 bid began as soon as we lost the bid in 2000," Phil Molefe, head of satellite television channel South African Broadcasting Cooperation (SABC) Africa, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We were so sure of ourselves then; now we know better. We understand that we have to work hard to get good results," Molefe said. "South Africans know how best to make use of the financial spin-off of hosting the World Cup. I was especially impressed with the way in which the South African government mobilised big business, government and civil society. The sponsorship of giant corporations who have a vested interest in recouping their investments with South Africa hosting the World Cup was especially important," Egypt's Ambassador to South Africa Hagar Islambolly told the Weekly. "They even enlisted the support of Franz Beckenbauer," Ambassador Islambolly said. Beckenbauer is the legendary German superstar, the only man to have won the World Cup both as a player and a manager. Molefe concurred, explaining that ironically South Africa wanted the very man who cost the country the 2006 bid to be on their side -- indeed on their bidding team. "People danced on the streets, motorists honked with joy," he added. ''There was a sense of both exhilaration and relief." "'Let's celebrate,' people said. 'We've worked hard, we've suffered. We've been through very difficult times.'" "This has been a struggle that has taken seven years," President Thabo Mbeki told SABC soon after it was announced that South Africa was to host the 2010 World Cup. "It came as a surprise to us," Thandiwe January-Mclean, South Africa's deputy director general of arts, culture and language, told the Weekly. Did you see how the presidents past and present wept? Yes, those were tears of joy, but we were uncertain, unsure of ourselves. We honestly were not sure, right to the very end, whether or not we would win the bid to host the World Cup in 2010." South Africa's star-studded delegation included Mbeki, former presidents Mandela and F W De Klerk, bid chairman Irvin Khoza, chief executive Danny Jordaan and Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Even though the country did not do well in January's African Cup of Nations, South Africa was destined to stage the continent's first World Cup. Other African countries have a lot of catching up to do. It is not just the precious metals that put them out in front of other African countries; South Africa is the showcase of African democracy. "We have the continent's and perhaps the world's most progressive constitution and most democratic and liberal laws," SABC Africa's Molefe says matter of factly. Scanning the South African press the reader is often overwhelmed by an overpowering sense of cynicism corroding the entire system. But that might just be a symptom of a good working democracy. Democracy, nevertheless, does not preclude problems. There is a yawning gap between post-apartheid South Africa's special place in history and the soccer match-fixing scandal currently rocking the country. The arrest over the past two weeks of 16 Premier Soccer League referees, five club officials and one match commissioner as a result of the scandal has thrown the country and the continent off balance. African football is badly in need of a big, positive statement about its standards. To allay fears, the South African Football Association (SAFA) said last week that it would be able to provide enough referees for the country's Premier Soccer League, Africa's richest national football championship. SAFA has even indicated that it would field referees from neighbouring African countries to replace their South African counterparts. The scandal is a good example of how South Africa's fundamental strength lies in its capacity to cope with, and contain, a plethora of pressing problems. Tokyo Sexwale is another example of reaching the top after starting from ground zero. "It is important that soccer players themselves begin to recognise the confidence that our people have in them," observes Sexwale. "The challenge of existence is to fall in love with life and come to terms with all its joys and sorrows," muses Sexwale, one of South Africa's wealthiest and most influential tycoons. His is a real rags-to- riches tale. Only a decade ago, the former political prisoner and veteran African National Congress (ANC) anti-apartheid campaigner was branded a terrorist. In more ways than one, Sexwale personifies the spirit of post-apartheid South Africa. A major sponsor of South African soccer, Sexwale is a former mayor of South Africa's wealthiest and most populous province, Guateng, which incorporates both the country's commercial and economic hub Johannesburg and the administrative capital Pretoria. In spite of his connections and impeccable political credentials, Sexwale fell out of favour with the upper echelons of the ANC ruling clique. In another African country he would be finished. Not so in South Africa. The bigwigs let him be. There is no residual fear of state authority. Sexwale made his money upgrading hostels in the violence- ridden East Rand townships where the death toll then hovered around 20 a day. Apartheid claimed many lives, and wrecked countless others. Today, Sexwale has mining and oil interests across Africa. Like South Africa, Sexwale has a knack for making the most of even the most difficult of situations. Those were difficult times for the country, but Sexwale stood his ground. He had faith in the new South Africa. He staked bets on it, and put his money into local enterprises and now he enjoys the dividends. So, too, does South Africa. The country sits on 60 per cent of the world's gold reserves. Diamonds, uranium, coal and a host of other minerals are found in fabulous abundance. Sponsorship capacity for sporting events, therefore, is unrivaled continent-wide. Simply put no other African country has the capacity to compete with the South Africans. As the African continent treads softly towards democratisation, it has South Africa as a role model. The investigation into the match-making scandal to "remove the clouds of uncertainty over South African soccer", as Sexwale aptly points out will restore public trust in the players and the sport. South Africans are not just good at sports but are good sports. While doubts have been cast on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), marketed as the blueprint for African economic survival, Mbeki and Senegalese President Abdulaye Wade are two of its staunchest promoters in the continent and have worked closely together on the subject on a bilateral level and at regional and international forums. The two men are also strong proponents of pan- Africanism, democracy and human rights in Africa. South Africans were, therefore, shocked to see the Senegalese president backing Morocco, a kingdom that is not even a member of the African Union, in its bid to hold the 2010 World Cup. Shocked but not upset. Which goes to show that South Africans are good sportsmen after all.
