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Bafana 'Gees' (06-2010)



The Bafana “gees” has really gripped South Africa. It is heartening to see the patriotism that is expressed through the many South African flags that adorn cars and houses. The green and gold shirts declare in no uncertain terms where the loyalty of the nation lay/lied. It does not matter that the quality of the tee-shirt varies from genuine to imitations of the fakes. My employer is responsible for the two that I have. 

Employers are also into the Bafana spirit. Employees are getting time-off from work to watch the Bafana games. Some employers (like mine) bought t-shirts for their employees and some spent a lot of money on match tickets. The controversy on the amount that government departments have spent on match tickets is at this stage not dampening the spirit. I guess we will deal with it later. 

The national broadcaster – the SABC, played its role in psyching up the nation and rallying it around Bafana Bafana. It has been exciting to wake up to presenters who are wearing the national colours and to programs that kept on reminding us of the momentousness of this event. The slogan “feel it ..it is here” became a catch phrase. It caught on to the extent that a number of its variations are springing up like “Phillip…it is here”. I know that some people refer to the Bafana “gees” as Phillip. 

I watched the first game at Chippas in Mbekweni and the vibe was so wonderful. People made a lot of noise in a very jovial spirit. The vuvuzelas kept on blaring non-stop. Siphiwe Tshabalala’s goal got everyone jumping. I then decided to see the last minutes of the game at Rennie’s and that’s when that Mexican goal came in. There was short-lived frustration that did not dampen the spirit. People were possessed with the Bafana-spirit. We even believed that we can beat any team that came onto our path. 

June 16 proved to be a sobering moment when the nation’s pride, Bafana Bafana, got defeated by three goals to nil by Uruguay. This put us at the risk of being the first host nation to exit in the first round. What is amazing is that South Africans’ disappointment with the result and the possibilities it brought was not permanent. South Africans cried and dried their tears and got back behind their team. If there was ever proof that we were die-hard patriots it was the belief that we could beat France by five goals to nil. A daily newspaper succinctly captured the task ahead with bold headlines “We now need a miracle”. Being a nation that its own birth was regarded as a miracle South Africans have a right to believe in miracles. Alas, the game against France on Tuesday brought us only a beautiful first half performance but no miracle. The pride of our nation was booted out of the tournament after beating the former world champions, France, with two goals to one. We needed more goals that we did not get as our second half performance was less than impressive. The media referred to the result as being bitter-sweet. 

Whatever happens on the field of play more significance should be borne by what is happening in our country. We have become a nation that is united by our South African-ness, for this moment we are the rainbow people of God. This is the spirit that we need to enhance and find ways of carrying it through as we deal with our many challenges. Some have already started reminding us that we will still be faced with high levels of poverty and unemployment after we have hosted the world cup. We should find a way to inform these that we know and yet we deserve to be happy even with our problems. Nothing should take from us the feeling of being South African, all of us, in our diverse textures and economic standing. I am now experiencing what I sometimes envy about citizens of the United States of America: South Africans have put the country above their differences!!! 

We should all heed President Zuma’s words of wisdom and encouragement when he said” South Africans are already winners. We won on May 15, 2004 when the announcement was made, declaring us as the hosts. The whole world is looking at us and applauding our success so far.” 

Phillip…..he eats here!!!!!!!!! 

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