Invictus: The Sequel?

The film ‘Invictus’ - Clint Eastwood’s story of the Rugby World Cup that was hosted, and won, by South Africa in 1995 – portrays a fragile nation only one year after its first democratic election. The movie reflects the idea that the tournament brought South Africans of all races together, speaking the universal language of sport, and instilled in people a renewed sense of national pride and support for Nelson Mandela’s government.

The national rugby team, called the Springboks (antelopes), was a symbol through which everyday South Africans could demonstrate this renewed patriotism. In addition, during the ‘95 World Cup nearly all South Africans took notice of the sport of rugby, which was previously seen by many as a 'white man's game', and a symbol of the Afrikaner regime.

Similarly, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa is seen by many stakeholders, not least the national and provincial governments, to be in the interest of nation building, patriotism and community feeling at a time when there is a renewed skepticism of government and increasingly negative feelings about the state of the nation. There is also hope that more and more South Africans will now also take an interest in the 'poor man's game' of soccer which is more popular in traditionally ‘black’ schools and communities.

I asked some South Africans about their feelings or perceptions of the World Cup as a nation builder. TV producer Twanji Kulula, shares the government’s optimism: “It is doing great things for national pride – especially for young people.”

Blogger Kamilla Kate Jenkins agrees:

“All I can say is people are so excited here for the World Cup. Thousands swarmed the ticketing offices today in hope they could get an opportunity to watch the soccer showpiece. In some parts of the country police had to be called in to ensure crowd control so, yeah, many South Africans are looking forward to the World Cup.”

However, Justin Zehmke – a South African football journalist and writer of www.stanstillding.com - a blog that aims to ‘take the spin off South African media and get to the underlying truth of the country’s hosting of the World Cup’ - is not so sure:

“A lot of the optimism surrounding the World Cup seems to have dissipated as South Africans realise that hopes of the event serving as a cure-all for what ills us were misplaced. While there seems to be a genuine belief that the tournament will be a success in purely organisational terms, the reality that this is FIFA's baby, and that South Africans are only there to add some local colour for the television cameras, has finally set in. Overall there's a sense of 'we might as well enjoy this as we'll be paying the bills for at least a decade to come'.”

A South African expat living in London, Rudi Ball, takes a more moderate view. He sees the opportunity for nation building, but with an outsider’s view he also realises how easily this potential can be lost:

“I think that while the upcoming World Cup is a fantastic opportunity for the country to boost the South African brand - the event will probably be a failure. With so many tickets still unsold and a negative political situation being presented abroad, it doesn't bode well for the future. I think that the opportunity is going to be missed.”

Thus it is evident that local feeling surrounding the tournament is mixed. One thing is for sure: the whole country will be watching football. Many, if not most, South Africans will also be blowing their vuvuzelas or wearing the Amabokoboko team colours with a spirit befitting a nation that has worked hard to get the kind of international recognition coming its way.

Now all that’s left is to cast the role of Pres. Jacob Zuma for the movie...