The real World Cup legacy (ie babalaas)

I don’t know about you but SA is pretty boring without the World Cup isn’t it?

Not really, but the Rainbow Nation has been experiencing the lamest of July hangovers. Doctors are calling it WCW (and it has nothing to do with wrestling) — World Cup Withdrawal. The economy might have gotten a bounce from the tournament but that is nothing compared to the way South Africans have been drowning their sorrows since July 11.

Many journalists have been writing what has been referred to (http://www.mahala.co.za/reality/end-of-the-world-cup/) as ‘think’ pieces. What now? The morning after has now arrived, and the rest of the day is clouded in uncertainty. This, they say, is what’s going to happen.

I don’t know about you, but trying to figure out the meta outcomes in micro time is quite an average task to attempt. What is possible to see however is the change the tournament has affected on the man in the street.

If you like to party, your wealth has now been reduced … significantly.
If you like beer, you now weigh an extra three to four kilograms.
There are more cops around. What? Having police around actually reduces crime?
The Bokke are going to play their rugby at the new World Cup stadiums. Don’t believe what the unions tell you. When it comes to the Bokke, bigger is better.
Bafana Bafana (reportedly the government are thinking about a name change? Wouldn’t be the worst idea ever) finally have a coach who doesn’t speak Portuguese.
The stadiums in Nelspruit and Polokwane will in approximately two years be featured in an episode of Carte Blanche bemoaning the fact they are white elephants. No shit sherlock.
The government can actually do things when they get their act together but …
The government in many respects still suck lemons. Their refusal to acknowledge xenophobia, rather blaming random acts of crime, is typical denialism. Wake up, smell the trash, and do something about it. The public isn’t retarded.
If you can’t see poverty, it doesn’t exist (see link above … so true).
Safa is still the byword for infighting, technocracy, and poor administration.
Sepp Blatter is no longer the president of SA. He’s just a fat Swiss man in a suit and a douchebag.
Zakumi is now just a leopard that fell into a bowl of molten-radioactive-mag-ma (with thanks to Alternative Rugby Commentary).
The England football team are still as frail as the Proteas batting line-up in the late-90s. Too rich for their own good?
Individuals don’t make a football team.
Their victory cost me a financial windfall, but Spain deserved it.
South Africans love to party.
Tourist prices are just that.
We know more about football then we did a month and a half ago.
The SABC are still playing in the kiddies pool compared to Supersport.
An Olympic bid is a possibility, but if we do go for it, Johannesburg must be the city to do it. By 2020 Gautrain (which is awesome) would have expanded to cover large tracts of the city.
The death of 2010 advertising is here. Yay!

There will also be a lot of debate about the cost and where the money could have gone.

However, you can’t quantify nation building. While South Africa isn’t perfect by any means, the steps of unity, however small, we as a nation took in our month long dream/holiday are more important than the simple measures of currency.

Was it worth it? You bet. Viva South Africa, viva.