Are you a Sepp Blatter for SA?

Sepp Blatter, the Fifa head honcho, is quite possibly also its biggest buffoon. From the ridiculous statements about female footballers wearing skimpy outfits to that affair where he stepped in on Real Madrid’s behalf (as is Fifa tradition) and declared the multimillionaire pansy Cristiano Ronaldo a slave for not being allowed to leave the club to whom he was *shock horror* under contract to. He has more than done his bit for the foot-in-mouth movement. Add that to the fact that he has managed to stay on top of the fiercely competitive political heap that is world football and you just know that the man is no saint.

But here’s the thing, I figure SA could do with more Sepp Blatters around. Why, I hear you ask? Look at how consistently and firmly the man bats for SA. Every time someone mouths off some incoherent unjustified babble about our suitability for hosting the World Cup, Sepp is there defending us to the hilt. Every time. And it’s not because he is some sycophantic see-no-evil type either — he himself has laid into Safa and the LOC when he felt something wasn’t up to standard. Except, and here’s the thing, it’s never “these Africans don’t know what they are doing, the World Cup will be a disaster” but more along the lines of constructive criticism and behind-the-scenes interventions to help make things work.

Now imagine if more South Africans had that attitude? Not just seeing only what’s wrong and mouthing off bitterly about it, but getting involved and sorting it out. It’s very easy to sit back and say that’s what the government should be doing, but who does that attitude help? How does it make sense to want to be right when things are falling off instead of doing something about it and showing up those who aren’t pulling their weight in a positive manner? Funnily enough, being a critic doesn’t preclude being part of the solution. A lot of South Africans don’t get this and it’s quite a tragedy. There are those that do, like our doctors who could all leave tomorrow for more money and better conditions elsewhere yet choose to stay and fight within the system because they want to be part of the change. That is the example we should all be following. Pro-active engagement.

Sure, it could be argued that Sepp Blatter has a vested interest in the SA World Cup coming off nicely, but Fifa has a long list of countries that could be ready to host the World Cup tomorrow if asked to, and they have the PR nous to make sure they’d come off smelling like roses if the whole thing went balls-up, but that’s not the attitude they’ve adopted.

Why don’t more of us try some of that?