During the build up to the World Cup, it’s easy to get caught up in team news, injuries, stadium updates, airline collusion (erm, allegedly), and other mundane tidbits. But the upcoming World Cup in South Africa also provides us with the opportunity to reflect on South Africa’s path to 2010. Benni McCarthy and Steven Pienaar are standing on countless sets of impressive shoulders. (more…)
Millions around the world are counting down to June 11, 2010. That’s the date the first soccer World Cup ever to be played in Africa will kick off in Johannesburg, South Africa. If you haven’t taken notice beyond Charlize Theron’s antics at the drawing or just don’t care, it’s time to become a fan or at least pay attention. Pay attention because South Africa hosting the World Cup will be a historic moment of first black president proportions.
The South African story is a powerful, historical narrative. It’s filled with oppression, struggle, and overcoming adversity. This moment is about much more than soccer. (more…)
In Part II, I explained a bit about the social and spatial legislation that laid the foundation for the development of apartheid sport. But to begin to understand the current state of South African sport and what this World Cup means in historical context, you need to understand South Africa’s unique sporting landscape.
South Africans are sports mad. The madness is more than a passion, it is religion. However, observing South African sport from the viewpoint of major South African newspapers during apartheid skews one’s perspective on South African sport. Before South Africa was awarded the 2010 World Cup, South African soccer, which was a predominately a black sport, was largely invisible to most outside of South Africa. To most of the outside world, rugby, and to a lesser extent cricket, were the quintessential South African sports. Internally, stories and scores from these sports frequently rivaled political news for headlines. This reality allowed rugby and cricket to thrive inside South Africa, while support for black leagues, players, and competitions suffered behind closed doors. (more…)
In Part I, I alluded to the Nationalist Party’s policies laying the foundations for South African sport to develop along racial lines. Understanding the development of apartheid policies provides some key insights into why South African sport has developed into what it is today. Granted, South African sport has come a long way since the mid 20th century. But delving into the complex journey of sport in South Africa, particularly football’s journey and its seemingly odd dynamics to outsiders, offers vivid insights into the South African experience and the countless challenges that have led South Africa to where it is today.
As we countdown to the first World Cup to be played on African soil, Nutmeg Radio will feature a series of articles on football in South Africa. South Africa’s rich and unique past is filled with powerful anecdotes laced with struggle, inspiration, success and failure. Over the years, international coverage on South Africa has focused on politics, particularly South Africa’s apartheid past and the obstacles that the country has faced as it moved out of apartheid towards the creation of “A New South Africa”. Sport in South Africa, however, has always been a fascinating subplot of South African society, largely due to the unique role of sport in the country. Delving into sport in South Africa presents a wonderful and unique opportunity to tell many of the stories that we’ve heard about the country through the lens of sport, and will hopefully allow you to learn about what is without question a powerful undercurrent of South African history and society.
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