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

August 2, 2016

Updated on Jul. 14, 2010 · 3:01 PM EDT

By Courtney Brooks (Northeastern) Study Abroad Correspondent CorpsCourtney Rose Brooks

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.

While reporting on the World Cup Draw in December, I witnessed locals of all races and classes partying together. Tens of thousands of people, black, white and colored, rich, middle-class and poor, took over Long Street, where the draw party was held, and celebrated their country stepping into the international spotlight as a developed state capable of hosting the world’s most-watched sporting event.

This year, when people took to the streets to blow their vuvuzelas at the kick-off party at the fan park the next day, and at South Africa’s first game on June 11, I witnessed the same camaraderie between people who previously belonged to different worlds – and still do in many ways. South Africa’s continuing segregation seems to me to be a combination of economic disparity and lingering prejudices, and I can only hope that the World Cup will break down barriers on at least one of those fronts.

At a bar where I watched South Africa play the kick-off game against Mexico, which came to a 1-1 draw, blacks and whites rooted (and blew vuvuzelas) for Bafana Bafana together. Black employees from the kitchen ran out to dance and sing traditional South African songs after Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the opening goal, and white South Africans cheered just as loudly as black spectators as they joined them in celebrating.

Bafana Bafana lost their shot at the World Cup trophy after a tough defeat to Uruguay, and a win against Italy that was just not quite enough to get them through the first round. But this World Cup was not just about soccer for South Africa, Africa or the world at large.

This country invited the world inside its borders to see its flawed but inspirational society for themselves. Foreigners saw South Africa for what it really is: an imperfect but beautiful country full of tragedy and inspiration, third-world issues and first-world development, prejudice and hope for a better and more united future. Neither the idyllic rainbow nation of Mandela’s visions has been fully realized, nor has the lawless society some were convinced would result from the end of apartheid come to pass, despite the high crime rate.

And hopefully, now that the games have ended, the racial harmony I have seen as a result of the event will persevere, whether or not the country sees significant financial benefits.