I woke up to my last day in South Africa and decided to go shopping around downtown Jo'burg for a few jerseys. By that time, I was totally at ease walking, moving around interacting with people in downtown Jo’burg. All the inhibition that I had come to SA with was totally gone. After shopping around for most of the morning and early afternoon, I got back to the hostel to check out one last time and then headed to the airport to catch my flight back to Liberia. It was quite a coincidence that I decided to wear my Spanish jersey as I left South Africa. That was my way of showing my support for the team that I thought would win it all and I guess my wish came true.
Anyway as I am writing this blog, it’s August 1st and I am watching the highlight capsule of the whole World Cup on TV. It been more than a month since I have returned back from South Africa and more than 20 days since the World Cup concluded. Considering those facts, I think a conclusion to my blogs in South Africa is long overdue so here is my last blog about the World Cup and South Africa. 
I have already mentioned that seeing a World Cup was a life long dream and since the last World Cup ended in 2006, I had kept an eye out for the competition in 2010 and 2014 and believed these to be my best chance of fulfilling my dream. Fortunately for me I got the opportunity of working in Liberia last year and along with it came the possibility of have a decent amount of vacation days with which I could plan a longer than usual trip.
As soon as I had accepted my job offer of working in Liberia, I started my planning. I even tried to get a visa to South Africa as far back as Dec 2009. I got turned down then on the reasons that it was too early to apply for a World Cup visa. Undeterred I applied for tickets in January and got them confirmed in April. In the mean time I had had already started working on getting a visa but applying for a visa at the SA embassy in Ghana on my way to India in April. Later, I had to send in my documents again for the visa to be officially stamped on my passport. The whole of May was spent pouring over the maps of southern Africa seeking places to visit as well as possible modes of transport, accommodation, etc.
Once the whole trip was finished, I got a feeling of accomplishment and achievement for finally having realized my dream and as a bonus I was also able to backpack in two countries which was another one of my passions.
The team that I desperately supported did not win the cup but did better than what i expected and the second team that I supported were the eventual winner so I have to say that it was a pretty pleasing trip in that respect.
South Africa as a host country was a great success story. Along the way I met a Panamanian, Argentines, Brazilians, Americans, Chileans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Black South Africans and While South Africans, Swazi’s and many more nationalities. There were a lot of skeptics who thought that SA would not be able to pull of the hosting of arguably the biggest sporting event but I think the country did just fine. If there was one issue, then it was the fact that Jo’burg is not a very tourist friendly city with walking and general travel in the city inconvenient. Considering the country came through the Apartheid era around 15 years ago, it is still a major accomplishment.
I do however see a lot of issues in SA that the country would do better to address. One of the bigger issues that the country faces is that of racial harmony even thought it’s probably much better than what it was a few years ago... Contrary to what many might feel, racial issues are still prelevant in the country and if not clearly visible they still exist just behind the façade of society.
A lot of the private enterprises are owned and controlled by White South Africans who constitute only about 10% of the country’s populations. However, about 50% of the South Africans (mostly blacks) still live under the poverty line even though there are huge shopping malls and showrooms for the most expensive goods.
Just from that standpoint, there is a lot of work that needs to be done by the government to bring equality to its populations. On the other hand, all the governmental and political aspect of the government seems to be dominated by the Black South Africans. The government has a policy in place now called the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) to redress the inequalities of past by giving preferences to Black Women, Black Male, Indian and Chinese and then White woman, and White Man in that order.
That means that they have suddenly turned the system up side down. While at first thought this might seem like a move in good spirit, it means that businesses having to consider the social and racial background of any potential applicant instead of making decisions purely based on merit, qualifications and experience.
It also seems like corruption is spreading throughout the society which is not good for any population regardless of skin color. The result of all this is that the country is suffering a brain drain where its most capable professionals are migrating to England, USA, Canada and Australia and other countries. I think Aldo (who is a white South African) framed it perfectly in one of our conversations...He said “It’s like we the current generation are paying for the sins that were committed by our forefathers 2-3 generations ago”.
View Journey through South Africa/Swaziland in a larger map
The question of who is native and who is not gets pretty blurred when you consider that all humans are settlers. Just the way the Afrikaans were settlers who came from Europe, most of the current Black populations are descendants of Bantu settlers from central eastern Africa. So the argument that some are more native than others is turned moot.
In my opinion, the country needs a government that’s progressive rather than regressive since it seems like the focus is on turning back the clock. I see huge potential for SA to model itself on the USA (which as far as I have read and seen is a far cry from what it was more than a century ago) if it can channel its energy and resources in the right way.
I wish the country good luck and maybe when if I ever return to SA, I will be able to see the positive change first hand that the country has undergone.
Anyway as I am writing this blog, it’s August 1st and I am watching the highlight capsule of the whole World Cup on TV. It been more than a month since I have returned back from South Africa and more than 20 days since the World Cup concluded. Considering those facts, I think a conclusion to my blogs in South Africa is long overdue so here is my last blog about the World Cup and South Africa. 
I have already mentioned that seeing a World Cup was a life long dream and since the last World Cup ended in 2006, I had kept an eye out for the competition in 2010 and 2014 and believed these to be my best chance of fulfilling my dream. Fortunately for me I got the opportunity of working in Liberia last year and along with it came the possibility of have a decent amount of vacation days with which I could plan a longer than usual trip.As soon as I had accepted my job offer of working in Liberia, I started my planning. I even tried to get a visa to South Africa as far back as Dec 2009. I got turned down then on the reasons that it was too early to apply for a World Cup visa. Undeterred I applied for tickets in January and got them confirmed in April. In the mean time I had had already started working on getting a visa but applying for a visa at the SA embassy in Ghana on my way to India in April. Later, I had to send in my documents again for the visa to be officially stamped on my passport. The whole of May was spent pouring over the maps of southern Africa seeking places to visit as well as possible modes of transport, accommodation, etc.
 |
| Johannesburg Downtown |
The team that I desperately supported did not win the cup but did better than what i expected and the second team that I supported were the eventual winner so I have to say that it was a pretty pleasing trip in that respect.
South Africa as a host country was a great success story. Along the way I met a Panamanian, Argentines, Brazilians, Americans, Chileans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Black South Africans and While South Africans, Swazi’s and many more nationalities. There were a lot of skeptics who thought that SA would not be able to pull of the hosting of arguably the biggest sporting event but I think the country did just fine. If there was one issue, then it was the fact that Jo’burg is not a very tourist friendly city with walking and general travel in the city inconvenient. Considering the country came through the Apartheid era around 15 years ago, it is still a major accomplishment.
I do however see a lot of issues in SA that the country would do better to address. One of the bigger issues that the country faces is that of racial harmony even thought it’s probably much better than what it was a few years ago... Contrary to what many might feel, racial issues are still prelevant in the country and if not clearly visible they still exist just behind the façade of society.
A lot of the private enterprises are owned and controlled by White South Africans who constitute only about 10% of the country’s populations. However, about 50% of the South Africans (mostly blacks) still live under the poverty line even though there are huge shopping malls and showrooms for the most expensive goods.
Just from that standpoint, there is a lot of work that needs to be done by the government to bring equality to its populations. On the other hand, all the governmental and political aspect of the government seems to be dominated by the Black South Africans. The government has a policy in place now called the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) to redress the inequalities of past by giving preferences to Black Women, Black Male, Indian and Chinese and then White woman, and White Man in that order.
That means that they have suddenly turned the system up side down. While at first thought this might seem like a move in good spirit, it means that businesses having to consider the social and racial background of any potential applicant instead of making decisions purely based on merit, qualifications and experience.
It also seems like corruption is spreading throughout the society which is not good for any population regardless of skin color. The result of all this is that the country is suffering a brain drain where its most capable professionals are migrating to England, USA, Canada and Australia and other countries. I think Aldo (who is a white South African) framed it perfectly in one of our conversations...He said “It’s like we the current generation are paying for the sins that were committed by our forefathers 2-3 generations ago”.
View Journey through South Africa/Swaziland in a larger map
The question of who is native and who is not gets pretty blurred when you consider that all humans are settlers. Just the way the Afrikaans were settlers who came from Europe, most of the current Black populations are descendants of Bantu settlers from central eastern Africa. So the argument that some are more native than others is turned moot.
In my opinion, the country needs a government that’s progressive rather than regressive since it seems like the focus is on turning back the clock. I see huge potential for SA to model itself on the USA (which as far as I have read and seen is a far cry from what it was more than a century ago) if it can channel its energy and resources in the right way.
I wish the country good luck and maybe when if I ever return to SA, I will be able to see the positive change first hand that the country has undergone.
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