Goodluck Africa!

Editor | Friday June 11, 2010 00:00

It has been a somewhat tumultuous period leading to the World Cup with some nations, particularly from the West casting doubt on Africa and in particular, South Africa's ability to host a successful tournament.

Their concerns were largely based on South Africa's violent crime rate that is indisputably high as well as its spontaneous industrial action, which has the potential to disrupt services. However we could not help but notice that there was, as is always the case, an undercurrent of something else. Something much more insidious. Something lodged deep in the psyche of anyone who always doubts whether people of this continent have the same ability to deliver or handle tasks of a mammoth type.

Afro-pessimism lodged deep within many so-called critics of this continent has often led to irrational doubt regarding Africa's capacity to play a meaningful role in world events.

Africa has always been seen as a dark continent, plagued by famine, coups and unending civil wars. Some ills, particularly crime have provided canon fodder to the western media, which has persistently felt that South Africa is not a safe destination for the finals.

But World-class facilities, political will and a clear demonstration that South Africa is ready to host the World Cup has shamed these Doubting Thomases.

Suddenly we hear people, even fierce critics singing praise after making ludicrous claims about South Africa's 'inability' to host the World Cup.

We believe that such worries should be a thing of the past now. The World Cup has indeed arrived and we are confident enough to proclaim that the hosts will make a good job of ensuring its success.

While we celebrate that, we also want to caution South Africans in general about a specific danger lurking underneath this image of success. On Wednesday reports filtered from the host nation that a Portuguese news crew was robbed at gunpoint in Johannesburg. A day later, a group of Chinese journalists was reportedly mugged. This does not augur well for South Africa and Africa, which has been trying to shed impressions of a dark image. We urge South Africans, on behalf of everyone in Africa, to try as much as possible to avoid feeding fodder to these pessimists. Notwithstanding we are confident that South Africa has done adequate groundwork to deal with any rising security issues.

The strength of a system is not tested by the challenges to its integrity, but its response to those challenges.

We abhor any activity that will give Africa's critics reason to celebrate and say, 'we told you so'.

Away from the disturbing reports, we wish the six participating teams the best of luck at the World Cup.

Africa needs a good performance to cheer its citizens and we have no doubt that the continent has the talent to compete against the best.

                                                           Today's thought'If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.'                                                            - Nelson Mandela