South Africans are condescending

| Wednesday March 3, 2010 00:00

The gist of the article is that GU should not have booted Orlando Pirates out of the competition.

I am an Orlando Pirates supporter from the early 1960's, but I want to look at the outcome of the match objectively.Those who think that Botswana teams should always be beaten by South African teams are unrealistic and condescending. They don't expect Botswana teams to develop, they want them to remain stagnant, which is unfair.Moreover, Pirates got the results it deserved. Botswana is no longer 'backward' like most South Africans think.  Those who think Botswana is 'backward' haven't set foot in this country. They have an exaggerated opinion of South Africa and themselves. Our teams are as good as our corrupt and inept government.

Our teams are a reflection of the corrupt governing party and I think most of the players are members of the ruling party including most of the musicians, artists and taxi drivers who had Jacob Zuma's stickers on their taxis in the run-up to the 2008 elections.  Some of us  are Pan-Africanist Congress members and we were expected to ride on taxis with stickers of Jacob Zuma. So are other South Africans who belong to political parties other than the ANC. In South Africa we have a society the majority of whose citizens conflate the state and ruling party.

With the typical South African arrogance, the writer of the Sowetan article under discussion decries the fact that minnows GU booted Pirates from a soccer competition. He forgets that GU and Botswana soccer are developing, they can't remain stagnant for keeps. Even the capital city Gaborone is not the way it was when we went to exile in the mid-1970's. Frankly, most South Africans are the pits.

Sam Ditshego, Kagiso