End of Mission

June 24

Thursday I drive back to Johannesburg, my mission, as the French like to say, done. A warm day on the N4 highway, at the Ultra City rest stop I see lots of Australians heading back from Nelspruit. I’m back at the Mercure hotel in Johannesburg, trying to figure out how to pack everything for my flight tomorrow evening.

Reading the newspapers and listening to the commentary on radio and tv, the World Cup is really a defining event for South Africa. After being an international pariah for so long and being known as the country that produced apartheid South Africans seem to be acting as boosters for the country and the people and to show the world they can host a World Cup. Many black commentators see this as the result of Nelson Mandela’s struggles, that SA is finally on the level of other countries. The poverty, racial problems and corruption will remain, but for a month, SA is host to the biggest sporting event in the world. And of a sport that means so much to so many. Many people are saying, well, they said we couldn’t do it, but here we are. And the whole country does seem to be behind it, shop workers and people all over are still wearing the yellow SA jersey colors, even though the team was eliminated. And lots of pride in the SA victory over sport and international power France. What will happen after the World Cup? Some of the stadiums are newly built, specifically for soccer and the World Cup. There isn’t much use for them after the tournament, except to try to boost the national soccer league. It sounds like there are the usual problems of a struggling country, though one rich in resources that are concentrated in a few hands. But for now, the have Bafana Bafana (the Boys).