World Cup unites races in South Africa; Will it last?

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — At noon on June 9, a buzz started in Cape Town, growing louder as I hiked Lion’s Head. It began as a hum and rapidly became a high-pitched echo, reverberating from the ocean to the waterfront to the city center to the mystical looking mountain I was standing on overlooking the city.

There were many things about the 2010 World Cup that were not authentically South African — the official World Cup song by Shakira, for instance — but vuvuzelas certainly were. When one person blows the horn it can be, to me at least, irritating. But on this day, when seemingly all of Cape Town came outside to unofficially begin the World Cup celebrations, the excitement was made palatable by the racket.

The vuvuzela sound melted together as horns were blown by white, black and mixed-race, or “colored” South African. The resulting  dynamic and impressive hum was almost harmonious. 

Under apartheid, and in the early years after the regime ended, soccer was considered a “black” sport, while the white minority supported rugby. But on June 9, every race was represented in the street celebrations.

Soccer fans and patriots danced outside wearing jerseys of the country’s national team, Bafana Bafana. With flags draped around their shoulders, they trumpeted vuvuzelas proudly and with ease – something I have never been able to achieve without creating a noise approximating the cry of a wounded elephant. 

Much has been written about whether the Cup will benefit South Africa’s economy as a whole, and its millions of citizens living in poverty in particular. I spent a year working as an intern in the country, first for a local newspaper and then for international wire services, and I have to admit that, economically at least, I don’t think it will do much for the people who need help the most.

More than a million families still live in shacks without running water or electricity 16 years after the end of apartheid – 16 years that have been full of broken promises by the government. The official unemployment rate is 24 percent and is widely believed to be significantly higher than that.

The Cup has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, but they are generally short-term positions – stadium construction work that has long been finished, or temporary service and security positions. And while the touted boost to the economy and tourism sector seems logical, South Africa spent ten times more on the Cup than planned.

From what I have seen, the greatest benefits to the country will be intangible but, in the long run, essential to South Africa becoming Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu’s dream of a rainbow nation.