World Cup 1: Symbolism Versus Sales

My Jesuit confreres recently gave me an ironic birthday present, a vuvuzela, the two foot plastic trumpet which is selling like hot cakes on the streets of Johannesburg. Although its elephantine sound is not universally appreciated, it has become iconic of the South African FIFA World Cup – loud, proud, colourful and commercial. South Africans, of all cultural backgrounds, are blowing their real or metaphorical vuvuzelas for the World Cup.

My brother Steve, a businessman in Durban, is on a crusade to convert local white naysayers (mostly rugby fans). He thinks they are not yet thinking globally enough to comprehend the scale of the impending event.

Steve’s enthusiasm for the new Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban prompted me to take a group of young male religious from several African countries on a visit to this wonderful building, now the defining tourist landmark of this sleepy, sup-tropical, coastal city. The sweep of the towering Y-shaped central roof arch echoes the national flag and dominates the skyline. The design also takes advantage of the natural environment, being open at one end to the cooling sea breezes with a magnificent view on the city and an inviting Indian Ocean. As my group viewed the stadium, their vicarious pride in the South African achievement of hosting the World Cup was palpable.

Durban’s is just one of several fine buildings constructed for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Soccer City, between Johannesburg and Soweto (which will host the opening and final matches) appears out of the gold-bearing ground like a giant, orange cooking pot. In the east of the country, the much-criticised Nelspruit stadium seems to be trying quite literally to shake off the white elephant label. Its rearing roof supports imitate giant giraffes and the seat colours elicit the dizzying markings of galloping zebra. Some structures may well become white elephants but not Cape Town and Durban airports. They have been upgraded and up-sized with a sharp commercial eye to luring more of the international tourist arrivals away from Johannesburg.

However, despite much energy and enthusiasm, ‘bipolar’ might describe some reactions to the Cup. One minute South Africans see it as the solution to all our economic problems; the next we have despairing sentiments in the press such as: ‘Whites and media have ruined Cup’. Various reasons (sometimes accusing) are thrown around for the disappointing projected numbers of visitors - the recession, the strong Rand, inflated accommodation and travel costs plus the fear of violent crime heightened by the murder of Eugene Terreblanche. Some would add the negative image projected abroad by the international and local press, and they point out, quite correctly, that such reports tend not to appear before rugby and cricket tournaments.

These national mood-swings suggest a nation not yet entirely convinced of its ability to pull it off with the required panache, while under enormous pressure of expectations – particularly from the rest of Africa – to do just that. We took cricket and rugby world cups in our stride, but soccer takes the challenge to a daunting global level.

Many of the jitters play into the nation’s fractured past. Apartheid hewed crudely through most aspects of South African life, including sport. Hence soccer was a ‘black’ sport while cricket and rugby were ‘white’. Critics of scandal-dogged FIFA are mostly white. From business there’s resentment about FIFA’s iron grip on advertising and franchising. Even while the Government plans to honour FIFA boss Sepp Blatter with the prestigious Order of the Companions of OR Tambo, the press exposes his nephew’s lucrative Cup-linked hospitality interests.

Criticism of the Cup is often cudgelled by black commentators as unpatriotic. For most black South Africans (and many whites) the World Cup is freighted with massive symbolic significance as a first for Africa and a tangible sign of the acceptance of the country and Continent into what one might call the Sporting G8. A white reporter in the Business Times managed to upset FIFA, pro-Cuppers and foreign visitors in a single line: ‘(FIFA) promised us half a million cash-flush foreigners but warned us that they would be first, second and third in the queue when it came to fleecing these people’. By contrast, while reflecting sadly on the negative press South Africa has received overseas via domestic commentators, one black letter writer could still make this generous appeal to his compatriots: ‘Whites, this is your country too, and we all need to promote it to overseas people’.

Despite SA’s stage-fright and FIFA’s foibles, it’s clear that the World Cup is just ‘too big to fail’. This is the largest international event ever to come to these shores, and South Africa is yet to absorb this fact. If it is a success, however, it will not be just because of its international proportions. It will be primarily because Africa understands celebrations – their symbolism, their unifying and hospitable social functions, and their simple affirmation of human life – and Africa always in the end carries off celebrations with great style. Siyanamukela nonke! – we welcome you all!

This article first published in The Tablet http://www.thetablet.co.uk/ on 5 June 2010
If you enjoyed this article, the next in the series, World Cup 2: The Cup in Orange Farm, is at:
http://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/en/node/221