If today proved anything, anything at all, it's that we live in a country divided between Intellectuals and Morons.
I'm always eager to debate; always. I've loved debating ever since I could first argue a point and convince my fellow man, and oftentimes I find myself being the one convinced by an opposing opinion.
It's a great expression of freedom, and healthy open debate is the truest sign of a prosperous democracy.
Hence my utter disbelief that we continue to live among those who are so narrow minded, so embalmed in bigotry, so steeped in intolerance that they cannot fathom an opinion to exist outside of their own.
I've had the displeasure of encountering some of those people today, and it's honestly a place I never want to visit again.
More people have died in the name of religion than for any other cause known to man.
This is fact, not fiction.
Google it, Wikipedia it, Britannica it. The result will always be the same.
Conversely, more people could have survived senseless killings in the name of religion if only they allowed themselves to be more accepting of others; of our fellow man; of the belief system of total strangers.
You don't have to embrace or accept it. You simply have to respect their right to an opposing view.
Just be tolerant. That's all it really takes.
I engaged a guy in debate today who felt I was being racist for the comment I made in my previous blog post.
"Indians have been in South Africa for 150 years already, yet some still speak like they just stepped off the ship."
He found this comment racist.
Ok, let's have an intellectual debate about it then.
I'm an Indian myself. That tends to dilute his argument of racism somewhat.
I clearly said "... yet some still speak like they just stepped off the ship."
That removes his argument abut it being a generalisation.
Then I find out that his favourite tweet is a joke about the Muslim faith and the turbans some men wear.
Ironic, maybe. Contradictory, possibly. Hypocritical, absolutely!
As I said earlier, i'm willing to debate anybody on any topic provided it's kept intellectual.
As the old saying goes, "Don't argue with a fool. People may not be able to tell the difference."
I got asked the question today "Where do you draw the line?"
Quite honestly, if you start off with the premise that we should respect and tolerate, you never really need to draw a line. The problem most people have is understanding that one could respect and tolerate whilst maintaining a sense of humour.
We listen freely to Black jokes and Jewish jokes and Muslim jokes and Irish jokes and Fat jokes and Homosexual jokes and Lesbian jokes. We laugh heartily at all of the above and a thousand other genres.
Suddenly when we're presented with an opportunity to reflect upon ourselves and laugh at ourselves, we choose the cowards option and run for the race card, or the culture card, or any other card that allows us to cower beneath the banner of Bigotry.
As far as i'm concerned, this is our single biggest downfall as a nation toward letting go of the shackles of our past.
We need to chill more, and be more chilled.
We need to stop assuming that every person who does not look like we do, does not believe in the God we do, does not have the same complexion as we do, is the enemy!
What total hogwash!
I shudder at the thought that my daughter or any member of my family for that matter, is part of a society that is no enshrouded in bigotry!
Unbelievably narrow-minded!
Right.
Thats my rant for tonight.
Be an intellectual. Step away from the shadow of the Moron.
And for Gods sake stop sounding and acting like you just stepped off the ship!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Indian Crisis, and all & all.
I always figured i'd get my first Death Threat sometime before I kick the proverbial bucket... who knew that it would be this soon! (Getting a death threat that is, not kicking the bucket)
For those who know me, and most of you do, you will know that i'm a cynic and a sarcastic bastard at the best of times. At the worst of times, I border on the mindset of a Fox News reporter.
My Twitter and Facebook status updates bares testament to this.
Today was no different to my average Saturday morning.
I woke up and looked at my appointment book, then sent out text messages of apologies to clients I knew would annoy my weekend before it even began.
"Dear Sir/Madam. I wont make todays meeting as my dog is missing & the missus is distraught with grief. Thank you for your understanding."
For some reason, bringing a helpless pet into the reasoning always seems to work.
The clients I do want to see always get the personal touch on weekends.
No sending out my Project Managers to see them. I see them myself.
So it was today, and I decided to stop at a nearby pharmacy to pick up some lozenges before beginning my day.
Now I certainly didn't plan that I would be attended to by a rather chirpy Indian saleslady.
She greeted with a toothy "Hullo" and within seconds I thought i'd stepped into a time-machine and ended up in Mahatma Ghandi's kitchen!
I totally missed the middle bit of her sentence, and just barely caught the tail-end which had something to do with how her Gran cooks a strong fish curry to get rid of a sore throat.
Needless to say, I updated my Twitter and Facebook status to read, and I quote:
"Indians have been in South Africa for 150 years already, yet some still speak like they just stepped off the ship! Like WTF? "
There you have it.
That comment right there seemed to have inspired people of all races and cultures to either break out in laughter, or become violently opposed to me and have a burning desire to see me killed, dead.
One of my favourite responses was from a guy whose username already indicated to me what ladder of the social rung he was stuck on.
Idiot : What the F&*k bra! How you chooning about the Indians... Dont dala, we'll f&*king assinate you ekse.
Me : Don't you mean "assassinate" ?
Idiot : Ja, don't get funny ekse.
Me : I thought only famous people get assassinated?
Idiot : I'll make you famous bra! Dont dala!
I'm still not sure whether this guy really likes me or hates me...
Here's the thing I don't understand.
We have no problem laughing at other's, but as soon as the joke is on us, we tend to lose our sense of humour.
The number of negative responses I got were certainly a minority, but as soon as I indicated that I too was an Indian, poking fun at other Indians, they seemed to have lost their sense of tension and aggression.
I think it's a dangerous society we live in when we first have to ascertain the race, culture or creed of the person behind a comment before we invoke a response.
It reminds me of a song I once overheard being sung by a kid standing behind me at the movies.
It was an American rap song laced with vulgarity and racial slurs, and the person behind me singing it happened to be a young white kid. The lady directly behind him tapped him on the shoulder, waited as he turned his iPod down, and cautioned him about singing the word "Nigger" in public.
Now I get that. I totally get that.
It sounds offensive even to myself who is not a black man, and can never fully relate to the experiences of those who had to endure the word being used on them in all its negative connotations.
But it did leave me wondering what would have transpired had the kid singing the song behind me been black.
Would he still have been cautioned?
Would I still have felt as uncomfortable as I did previously?
I guess there will always be more questions than answers.
For me though, I think we should start by being able to laugh at ourselves.
Only then will we have the right to laugh at others.
I'd love to read your comments on this.
From a recent mail I received ...
Do not forget to make carrot salad…..and remember…..ALWAYS GIVE THE VISITORS THE OLD MANGO PICKLE, KEEP THE FRESH WUN FOR HOUSE PEOPLE.
For those who know me, and most of you do, you will know that i'm a cynic and a sarcastic bastard at the best of times. At the worst of times, I border on the mindset of a Fox News reporter.
My Twitter and Facebook status updates bares testament to this.
Today was no different to my average Saturday morning.
I woke up and looked at my appointment book, then sent out text messages of apologies to clients I knew would annoy my weekend before it even began.
"Dear Sir/Madam. I wont make todays meeting as my dog is missing & the missus is distraught with grief. Thank you for your understanding."
For some reason, bringing a helpless pet into the reasoning always seems to work.
The clients I do want to see always get the personal touch on weekends.
No sending out my Project Managers to see them. I see them myself.
So it was today, and I decided to stop at a nearby pharmacy to pick up some lozenges before beginning my day.
Now I certainly didn't plan that I would be attended to by a rather chirpy Indian saleslady.
She greeted with a toothy "Hullo" and within seconds I thought i'd stepped into a time-machine and ended up in Mahatma Ghandi's kitchen!
I totally missed the middle bit of her sentence, and just barely caught the tail-end which had something to do with how her Gran cooks a strong fish curry to get rid of a sore throat.
Needless to say, I updated my Twitter and Facebook status to read, and I quote:
"Indians have been in South Africa for 150 years already, yet some still speak like they just stepped off the ship! Like WTF? "
There you have it.
That comment right there seemed to have inspired people of all races and cultures to either break out in laughter, or become violently opposed to me and have a burning desire to see me killed, dead.
One of my favourite responses was from a guy whose username already indicated to me what ladder of the social rung he was stuck on.
Idiot : What the F&*k bra! How you chooning about the Indians... Dont dala, we'll f&*king assinate you ekse.
Me : Don't you mean "assassinate" ?
Idiot : Ja, don't get funny ekse.
Me : I thought only famous people get assassinated?
Idiot : I'll make you famous bra! Dont dala!
I'm still not sure whether this guy really likes me or hates me...
Here's the thing I don't understand.
We have no problem laughing at other's, but as soon as the joke is on us, we tend to lose our sense of humour.
The number of negative responses I got were certainly a minority, but as soon as I indicated that I too was an Indian, poking fun at other Indians, they seemed to have lost their sense of tension and aggression.
I think it's a dangerous society we live in when we first have to ascertain the race, culture or creed of the person behind a comment before we invoke a response.
It reminds me of a song I once overheard being sung by a kid standing behind me at the movies.
It was an American rap song laced with vulgarity and racial slurs, and the person behind me singing it happened to be a young white kid. The lady directly behind him tapped him on the shoulder, waited as he turned his iPod down, and cautioned him about singing the word "Nigger" in public.
Now I get that. I totally get that.
It sounds offensive even to myself who is not a black man, and can never fully relate to the experiences of those who had to endure the word being used on them in all its negative connotations.
But it did leave me wondering what would have transpired had the kid singing the song behind me been black.
Would he still have been cautioned?
Would I still have felt as uncomfortable as I did previously?
I guess there will always be more questions than answers.
For me though, I think we should start by being able to laugh at ourselves.
Only then will we have the right to laugh at others.
I'd love to read your comments on this.
From a recent mail I received ...
We all like to cook a good chow. So here is a simple Charou’s guide to cooking some lukker fresh fowl curry.
Bruin Ou’s Please DO NOT try this at home coz yawl are bound to cause speeches.
Bruin Ou’s Please DO NOT try this at home coz yawl are bound to cause speeches.
Here are the simple steps:
1. Go to Fowl Aunties pozzie and choose wun lukker fresh cut cull (Fowl).
2. Wood, this is the very important part of the cooking preparation:
-On the way to buying the wood, always ask the question “What we gonna dop”
-The best place to buy the wood is Spar, because next to every Spar there is a….. ‘TOPS’
-Important* Buy firelighters, coz Charous cant light fire….period
-On the way to buying the wood, always ask the question “What we gonna dop”
-The best place to buy the wood is Spar, because next to every Spar there is a….. ‘TOPS’
-Important* Buy firelighters, coz Charous cant light fire….period
3. So now that you have the two most important things (Chicken & Dop) the rest will follow shortly
4. As soon as you enter the house, make a noise on how busy the shop was, coz your vrou gonna ask you why you took so long
5. Before you start preparing….make sure you choon your vrou who you met in Spar…and that you invited them for a Fresh Fowl curry chow
6. Take wun onion and place it on the chopping board, then go to the radio and switch on Radio Lotus, coz every Charou mus listen to Mrs Chetty’s whole families dedication right.
7. Come back to the chopping board, and scream at the top of your voice to your vrou…”You gort Chillies”
8. This will also tell you where about she is in the house and how far from the kitchen she is.
9. Next, take wun tumbler from cupboard….crack open that bottle of ‘Black & White’ (Charous choice dop), DO NOT forget to pour for the dead. Then pour wun lukker valve opener shot in the tumbler and tint it with some government dash (water). Rush that thing down and wipe your mouth quickly.
10. Now that the blood is flowing nicely, cut the onions into thin slices and keep it in wun saucer with a few green chillies, biryani mix, and the all important curry leaves.
11. Gravy soakers, UTD potatoes are a must, Charous love BUSTING petetoes so peel at least 5, cut in have and we will have….?
12. By this time your vrou gonna come into the kitchen and ask if you need help….choon her to make some bhajias for bites, shes gonna choon you voetsak and she will leave the kitchen….this is your window of opportunity to pour wun nother cracker shot
13. Time to light the fire
14. Pick up all the packets, buckets and old cloths yawl pushed in the fire place for storage, whilst you there pick up all the stompies as well.
15. Place the firelights in the tray and some decent pieces of wood and flame it with that extra big box of matches you have next to the fire place. If your laaities are around watching you, choon them about the good old days when yawl used chimtas and newspaper to start a fire for making water hot. Keep that pot lid handy for fanning.
16. Now that the fire is chooning and the dop is also chooning, vye sook wun decent size pot, make sure you put handy andy on it otherwise your vrou will have a hard time washing it.
17. Add some oil (straight from the 5lt Sunflower bottle)
18. When the oil is hot chuck in your onions, chillies, biryani mix (bay leaves, cinnamon etc) otherwise you gonna get the kauchi smell
19. Throw in the curry leaves, when the onions are slightly tinted like whiskey in water…..add some of your secret masala your mother-in-law mixed for yawl when yawl vyed Durban
20. Be careful don’t burn the masala.
21. Add the fresh cut chicken into the pot, add wun tomato (cut in small pieces) and sum salt and ginger and garlic
22. Give it wun two good stirs, close the pot and choon Aahhhh, your vrou gonna ask whats wrong, then you choon….Time for a shot
23. Go to the kitchen and pour a legal shot.
24. By this time the visitors should have arrived….visitors always come when the fire is started, all the hard graaf is klaar and when the chow is almost ready
25. Greet your visitors, stand right by the front door and hear their stories coz there are bound to have some long stories
26. Immediately take the man outside….Choon him, Connection…come see my dhania how it’s growing
27. Pour him wun thunder shot, cos your hand is heavy by now
28. Whilst chooning, remember that you cooking and check the chow. Don’t forget to take out some chicken pieces for bites
29. Add some water to the chow, coz fresh chicken is little bit tough
30. Have wun two more shots, talk about the old days…always start the conversation with…..Remember when we were small our ballies……
31. Check the curry again, water should be gone down and the chicken should be soft, add the gravy soakers (potatoes). Do not forget to mention to the visitors how expensive wun bag of potato is gone.
32. Have another shot, because your vrou gonna come ask you if she can set the table.
33. After about 45 minutes the curry should be smelling lukkers, the potatoes should be soft and soaked with gravy.
34. Take some fresh dhania from the garden, cut it up lukkers and sprinkle it in the pot
35. Your vrou is now gonna choon ‘come eat’ and you must choon…..nor let the ladies eat first…..coz this will buy more time for wun two more slugs.
Do not forget to make carrot salad…..and remember…..ALWAYS GIVE THE VISITORS THE OLD MANGO PICKLE, KEEP THE FRESH WUN FOR HOUSE PEOPLE.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Pending Photo Album
I've been meaning to start a photo album on my blog for some time now. I even went as far as getting an album template and uploading it onto the blog. The pictures you see (top right corner of the blog) actually come from the random files on Flickr.
My digital camera had a faulty shutter-button, and I finally tracked down the Olympus agents yesterday.
If all goes according to plan, I should have my trusty camera back next week and hopefully I can start uploading my own pics soon thereafter.
So the answer to the question i've been asked numerous times this week is: No, the current album does not belong to me, and NO I have no idea who the pretty blonde girl on the beach is!
My digital camera had a faulty shutter-button, and I finally tracked down the Olympus agents yesterday.
If all goes according to plan, I should have my trusty camera back next week and hopefully I can start uploading my own pics soon thereafter.
So the answer to the question i've been asked numerous times this week is: No, the current album does not belong to me, and NO I have no idea who the pretty blonde girl on the beach is!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Just Be Good To Me
One of my favourite songs, remixed and featuring Lily Allen.
Thanks to the blog "Ramblings Of An Altruist" for bringing the video to my attention.
This version is still my favourite though.
If you like Karmah, you should also check out their version of "Toms Diner"
The Final Hurdle
We're fast approaching the Soccer World Cup Final, and it's almost as though the dream is about to come to an end.
It's been an amazing two months, and i've met so many wonderful people; some of them were even foreigners!
Brazil hosts the World Cup in 2014, and we've decided to make the trip and live the adventure. It will be infinitely more fun to visit a foreign country during a major sporting event. It's like going on two holidays at the same time.
I remember a few years back when I had a friend from Malaysia visit me. She stayed for about 3 weeks and I tried to take her sightseeing on day trips. I left her in charge of choosing the place, and I would plan the activities for the day in the place she'd chosen.
The day she left to go back to Malaysia, I literally felt exhausted, but satisfied nonetheless.
It was as though I had been on holiday myself.
I ended up seeing parts of the country I never would have visited had she not come down to SA.
I wonder how much of Africa the visiting teams for the Soccer World Cup actually did see.
It would be sad to think that they spent most of their time between the shopping malls and the flea-markets, where they invariably would have ended up buying wooden carvings and tribal masks. I once had a stall in a flea-market so I know what tourists, especially Europeans, love buying to take back home.
Ironically, most of these items are made in Zimbabwe and Zaire....so they really took nothing from South Africa back home with them.
I should be sending out Invoices and Quotes right now, but writing on my blog is more fun.
I love the job I do, but honestly I could easily do nothing else but write all day.
If only I could find a way of getting paid ...
It's been an amazing two months, and i've met so many wonderful people; some of them were even foreigners!
Brazil hosts the World Cup in 2014, and we've decided to make the trip and live the adventure. It will be infinitely more fun to visit a foreign country during a major sporting event. It's like going on two holidays at the same time.
I remember a few years back when I had a friend from Malaysia visit me. She stayed for about 3 weeks and I tried to take her sightseeing on day trips. I left her in charge of choosing the place, and I would plan the activities for the day in the place she'd chosen.
The day she left to go back to Malaysia, I literally felt exhausted, but satisfied nonetheless.
It was as though I had been on holiday myself.
I ended up seeing parts of the country I never would have visited had she not come down to SA.
I wonder how much of Africa the visiting teams for the Soccer World Cup actually did see.
It would be sad to think that they spent most of their time between the shopping malls and the flea-markets, where they invariably would have ended up buying wooden carvings and tribal masks. I once had a stall in a flea-market so I know what tourists, especially Europeans, love buying to take back home.
Ironically, most of these items are made in Zimbabwe and Zaire....so they really took nothing from South Africa back home with them.
I should be sending out Invoices and Quotes right now, but writing on my blog is more fun.
I love the job I do, but honestly I could easily do nothing else but write all day.
If only I could find a way of getting paid ...
Sunday, July 4, 2010
My Movie Must-See List
It's Sunday evening and all I can remember about today is the warm embrace of my favourite blanket as I slept through most of the day.
My idea of a great weekend usually involves a good book, some good jazz playing softly in the background, a hearty lunch followed by an afternoon nap, and finished off with a romantic comedy on the telly before bed.
Today I went straight from awakening to the afternoon nap, and i'm currently watching the romantic comedy.
Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past.
Some day when I have a son i'll sit him down and make him watch it, along with the rest of all my favourite movies.
In no particular order...
My idea of a great weekend usually involves a good book, some good jazz playing softly in the background, a hearty lunch followed by an afternoon nap, and finished off with a romantic comedy on the telly before bed.
Today I went straight from awakening to the afternoon nap, and i'm currently watching the romantic comedy.
Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past.
Some day when I have a son i'll sit him down and make him watch it, along with the rest of all my favourite movies.
In no particular order...
The last one, Water, has got to be an absolute must-see in anyones movie list!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The People Shall Govern
The Soccer World Cup is drawing to an end, and to say that it's been an emotional roller-coaster would be an under-statement.
Admittedly it started off with a fair amount of trepidation for most South Africans, myself included.
There were whisperings of safety concerns both for the visitors to our shores and the locals.
There were hushed tones of the World Cup being a disaster of truly African proportions. For a while the doomsayers seemed to have the upper hand. We watched and waited anxiously as foreigners began buying up tickets to an event which many of us would possibly never again see on our continent, in our lifetimes.
We were willing to take that chance.
The power of pessimism seemed to rule supreme.
Those who had attempted the farcical online ticket-purchase process created by those demigods of idiocity, or FIFA as most refer to them as, were quick to brag about the seats they had secured.
Nobody seemed impressed, and quite frankly nobody cared.
As South Africans who are accustomed to doing things our way, we always knew we would be able to buy tickets when we wanted, as we wanted, even at the very last minute.
Talk of the stringent controls FIFA had put in place for the resale of tickets did nothing to deter us.
Besides, years of attending the Rand Easter Show had prepared us for attending events at the eleventh hour and getting the best parking available at the lowest price possible, and sometimes even gaining access for free!
As far as we were concerned, the Soccer World Cup was just going to be a bigger, better Rand Easter Show.
FIFA and the LOC (Local Organising Commitee) soon realised that the South African public were not snapping up tickets as they had hoped.
What did they expect when they opened sales only online, while the vast majority of soccer lovers in the country had no access to the internet? (For the foreigners reading this, please note that this is not meant to imply that South Africa has no broadband internet, or any other form of internet. It merely means that the majority of South Africans are low income earners, and the equally vast majority of internet service providers have combined to make South Africa one of the most expensive places in the world to use any form of internet access).
So effectively FIFA and the brainiacs at the LOC spent millions of Rands on strategy and planning as regards ticket sales prior to the World Cup and they concluded that they needed to sell millions of tickets to millions of fans,and the best possible way to do this would be to exclude the majority of potential buyers.Millions of them.
You with me so far?
Good; because it gets more interesting.
The marketing people at FIFA and the LOC then decided to try and fool the public by saying that tickets were selling fast, and almost 90% had already been sold.
Still we weren't buying; neither their bullshit nor the tickets.
Finally Danny Jordaan and his sidekick Sepp Blatter acknowledged their oversight and decided to sell tickets over the counter, like they should have done from the very beginning.
Thats when sales literally exploded and people waited in queues for hours and days to buy what they wanted, as they wanted, and when they wanted.
The power of the consumer had beaten the shortsightedness of the demigods.
Before the first ball of the World Cup had been kicked, the score was already on the boards.
South African Public 1 - FIFA 0.
Suddenly the nation was galvanized and spurred into action.
Everybody and their donkey was scampering for tickets.
This time it really was a big deal if you had secured seats to the stadiums.
People began selling tickets to friends and family, and ultimately complete strangers, against FIFA's stringent ticket-sale regulations.
South African Public 2 - FIFA 0.
By this point those very same demigods must surely have realised that Africa had it's own set of rules, and they seemed to work.
Don't re-invent the wheel simply because you can. Adapt and it will roll more smoothly.
This is Africa, and thats how we roll!
Moving ahead to the filled stadiums and the huge fanfare that the World Cup has now become, it seems quite obvious that the optimists had taken the bull by the horns and were not letting go, not for all the gold in King Solomons mines. The country was on a high and we stood behind our national team, Bafana Bafana.
They had more support than our rugby players or cricket players ever had, and this without having won any World Cup trophies as the two former teams had.
No disrespect to the Proteas or the Springboks, both of whom we love and admire unconditionally.
It was amazing to watch individuals and corporates get behind the nations team and sing with one voice, the voice of the Vuvuzela.
It became mandatory for every South African to own a Vuvuzela, and know how to blow it.
It became the sound that defined the Soccer World Cup.
It required very little practice, and swiftly crossed all racial and language barriers.
The irony is that this single item, probably the most cheaply priced of all soccer paraphernalia, has come to define the 2010 Soccer World Cup more than the official mascot products courtesy of Zakumi.
Zakumi was intended to be the mascot of the games and every conceivable money-spinning merchandising opportunity was pounced on by FIFA and the LOC.
They spent millions on design and product placement for all manner of Zakumi merchandise.
I recall reading an article where a forum was opened to gather the publics views on Zakumi.
The general consensus was that the public hated it.
There was no consultation between the powers that be and the nation on it's mascot for the largest sporting event ever to be hosted on our shores.
They went ahead anyways, thinking the public would come around to the idea.
Have you noticed how seldom Zakumi is now displayed or paraded as a mascot at the stadiums?
The nation had voted with its pockets once more.
The Vuvuzela was our mascot.
The Vuvuzela had defined the games for us.
Foreigners followed by example, and every nations fans bought into the Vuvuzela; every departing nations fans left with a smile on their faces and a Vuvuzela tucked under their arms.
South African Public 3 - FIFA 0
I turned the radio on the other day and the DJ was playing the song that has come to epitomise the tournament.
It got my feet tapping and I sang along to every word.
I suspect the drivers on either side of me were listening to the same song.
Waving Flag by K'naan.
This wasn't intended to be the theme song for the world cup.
Somehow, somewhere, Shakira whom I adore was chosen to sing the official song.
Waka Waka.
Sounds great, but again the nation had adopted it's own song, and no matter how they tried to force Waka Waka upon us, it just was not going to be.
I'm not sure how Shakira was contracted to FIFA for the song, but I assume they expected huge royalties as they usually do, from the sale of the album and all its downloads.
Imagine their surprise when the nation once again voted with their pockets and we chose Waving Flag to be the song that defined our World Cup.
South African Public 4 - FIFA 0
I suspect when FIFA and the rest of it's circus finally leave our country, they will have learnt a few lessons of their own.
I would like to think that they will look back on one of the most successful Soccer World Cups ever, and realise that the nation had embraced the beautiful game and made the event our own.
We did it our way.
Yes we truly are grateful that FIFA had selected South Africa as the hosts for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
But it was South Africa and her people that took an event and made it a historic occasion.
To all the nations and their fans who visited our beautiful land, I say salute and thank you for looking beyond the negative press reports prior to the first whistle blown.
Thank you for going back to your home countries and being brand ambassadors for mother Africa.
Lastly, to those who left our shores to run for the hills for fear that South Africa was destined for anarchy, I wonder how terribly you yearn to be here among the believers and optomists?
To hold hands and sing and chant for Bafana Bafana, and Ghana, and ultimately any team that wins this World Cup.
The tournament may end soon, but the pride of the country will forever live on.
This is Africa's time.... and we have achieved!
Admittedly it started off with a fair amount of trepidation for most South Africans, myself included.
There were whisperings of safety concerns both for the visitors to our shores and the locals.
There were hushed tones of the World Cup being a disaster of truly African proportions. For a while the doomsayers seemed to have the upper hand. We watched and waited anxiously as foreigners began buying up tickets to an event which many of us would possibly never again see on our continent, in our lifetimes.
We were willing to take that chance.
The power of pessimism seemed to rule supreme.
Those who had attempted the farcical online ticket-purchase process created by those demigods of idiocity, or FIFA as most refer to them as, were quick to brag about the seats they had secured.
Nobody seemed impressed, and quite frankly nobody cared.
As South Africans who are accustomed to doing things our way, we always knew we would be able to buy tickets when we wanted, as we wanted, even at the very last minute.
Talk of the stringent controls FIFA had put in place for the resale of tickets did nothing to deter us.
Besides, years of attending the Rand Easter Show had prepared us for attending events at the eleventh hour and getting the best parking available at the lowest price possible, and sometimes even gaining access for free!
As far as we were concerned, the Soccer World Cup was just going to be a bigger, better Rand Easter Show.
FIFA and the LOC (Local Organising Commitee) soon realised that the South African public were not snapping up tickets as they had hoped.
What did they expect when they opened sales only online, while the vast majority of soccer lovers in the country had no access to the internet? (For the foreigners reading this, please note that this is not meant to imply that South Africa has no broadband internet, or any other form of internet. It merely means that the majority of South Africans are low income earners, and the equally vast majority of internet service providers have combined to make South Africa one of the most expensive places in the world to use any form of internet access).
So effectively FIFA and the brainiacs at the LOC spent millions of Rands on strategy and planning as regards ticket sales prior to the World Cup and they concluded that they needed to sell millions of tickets to millions of fans,and the best possible way to do this would be to exclude the majority of potential buyers.Millions of them.
You with me so far?
Good; because it gets more interesting.
The marketing people at FIFA and the LOC then decided to try and fool the public by saying that tickets were selling fast, and almost 90% had already been sold.
Still we weren't buying; neither their bullshit nor the tickets.
Finally Danny Jordaan and his sidekick Sepp Blatter acknowledged their oversight and decided to sell tickets over the counter, like they should have done from the very beginning.
Thats when sales literally exploded and people waited in queues for hours and days to buy what they wanted, as they wanted, and when they wanted.
The power of the consumer had beaten the shortsightedness of the demigods.
Before the first ball of the World Cup had been kicked, the score was already on the boards.
South African Public 1 - FIFA 0.
Suddenly the nation was galvanized and spurred into action.
Everybody and their donkey was scampering for tickets.
This time it really was a big deal if you had secured seats to the stadiums.
People began selling tickets to friends and family, and ultimately complete strangers, against FIFA's stringent ticket-sale regulations.
South African Public 2 - FIFA 0.
By this point those very same demigods must surely have realised that Africa had it's own set of rules, and they seemed to work.
Don't re-invent the wheel simply because you can. Adapt and it will roll more smoothly.
This is Africa, and thats how we roll!
Moving ahead to the filled stadiums and the huge fanfare that the World Cup has now become, it seems quite obvious that the optimists had taken the bull by the horns and were not letting go, not for all the gold in King Solomons mines. The country was on a high and we stood behind our national team, Bafana Bafana.
They had more support than our rugby players or cricket players ever had, and this without having won any World Cup trophies as the two former teams had.
No disrespect to the Proteas or the Springboks, both of whom we love and admire unconditionally.
It was amazing to watch individuals and corporates get behind the nations team and sing with one voice, the voice of the Vuvuzela.
It became mandatory for every South African to own a Vuvuzela, and know how to blow it.
It became the sound that defined the Soccer World Cup.
It required very little practice, and swiftly crossed all racial and language barriers.
The irony is that this single item, probably the most cheaply priced of all soccer paraphernalia, has come to define the 2010 Soccer World Cup more than the official mascot products courtesy of Zakumi.
Zakumi was intended to be the mascot of the games and every conceivable money-spinning merchandising opportunity was pounced on by FIFA and the LOC.
They spent millions on design and product placement for all manner of Zakumi merchandise.
I recall reading an article where a forum was opened to gather the publics views on Zakumi.
The general consensus was that the public hated it.
There was no consultation between the powers that be and the nation on it's mascot for the largest sporting event ever to be hosted on our shores.
They went ahead anyways, thinking the public would come around to the idea.
Have you noticed how seldom Zakumi is now displayed or paraded as a mascot at the stadiums?
The nation had voted with its pockets once more.
The Vuvuzela was our mascot.
The Vuvuzela had defined the games for us.
Foreigners followed by example, and every nations fans bought into the Vuvuzela; every departing nations fans left with a smile on their faces and a Vuvuzela tucked under their arms.
South African Public 3 - FIFA 0
I turned the radio on the other day and the DJ was playing the song that has come to epitomise the tournament.
It got my feet tapping and I sang along to every word.
I suspect the drivers on either side of me were listening to the same song.
Waving Flag by K'naan.
This wasn't intended to be the theme song for the world cup.
Somehow, somewhere, Shakira whom I adore was chosen to sing the official song.
Waka Waka.
Sounds great, but again the nation had adopted it's own song, and no matter how they tried to force Waka Waka upon us, it just was not going to be.
I'm not sure how Shakira was contracted to FIFA for the song, but I assume they expected huge royalties as they usually do, from the sale of the album and all its downloads.
Imagine their surprise when the nation once again voted with their pockets and we chose Waving Flag to be the song that defined our World Cup.
South African Public 4 - FIFA 0
I suspect when FIFA and the rest of it's circus finally leave our country, they will have learnt a few lessons of their own.
I would like to think that they will look back on one of the most successful Soccer World Cups ever, and realise that the nation had embraced the beautiful game and made the event our own.
We did it our way.
Yes we truly are grateful that FIFA had selected South Africa as the hosts for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
But it was South Africa and her people that took an event and made it a historic occasion.
To all the nations and their fans who visited our beautiful land, I say salute and thank you for looking beyond the negative press reports prior to the first whistle blown.
Thank you for going back to your home countries and being brand ambassadors for mother Africa.
Lastly, to those who left our shores to run for the hills for fear that South Africa was destined for anarchy, I wonder how terribly you yearn to be here among the believers and optomists?
To hold hands and sing and chant for Bafana Bafana, and Ghana, and ultimately any team that wins this World Cup.
The tournament may end soon, but the pride of the country will forever live on.
This is Africa's time.... and we have achieved!
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