It was seven years ago when foreign media‚ fans‚ officials and football teams from around the world blew into town like an easterly wind.
The 2009 Confederations Cup had brought all these visitors to our corner of the universe and after our guests had made themselves comfortable‚ they then decided they’d remodel the place more to their tastes.
It wasn’t long before they started to complain about things they did not like in this country and when they got a first taste of the South African vuvuzela‚ some of them nearly wet themselves.
They hated the plastic instrument as soon as they heard it and it was such fun listening to irate players‚ journalists and coaches trying to articulate their intense dislike for the bloody thing.
I remember the fun we had at a press conference that was held at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace‚ in Rustenburg‚ before Bafana Bafana played against New Zealand in a Confederations Cup match.
A near-hysterical Dutch journalist voiced his intense dislike for the vuvuzela to now disgraced former Fifa president Sepp Blatter‚ pleading with the portly Swiss gentleman to consider banning the “noisy and irritating instrument” before the start of the Soccer World Cup the following year.
“Why can’t South Africans celebrate like the rest of the western world?” asked our man as astonished South African journalists looked on.
Displaying the fine-tuned skills of a slippery politician‚ Blatter reminded his inquisitor that he was in Africa and to accept that local fans were never going to be anything like what he was accustomed to in Europe.
The Dutch journalist had the pained look of a man who was about to burst into tears when the match got underway and a crescendo of vuvuzelas threatened to blow the stadium’s roof down each time the Bafana players had the ball. Aaaah‚ such fun!
Now let me tell you something else‚ many of us also could not stand the vuvuzela. Seriously!
We also hated the bloody thing but when the Brazilians‚ the Spaniards‚ the Japanese and many others got it into their heads to tell us what to do‚ that’s where we drew the line.
Their arrogance rubbed us the wrong way and we went to war. And when our guests realized that Blatter was in SA’s corner and they were not going to get their way‚ they eventually gave up.
You would think that many of the so-called experts who are queuing up to give us their expert analysis on Caster Semenya would have taken something from the above and learnt by now that South Africans do not take kindly to being lectured by outsiders.
Hell‚ look around and you will notice that even those fellow South Africans who trawled news sites and made a point of leaving distasteful comments below every story written about Semenya have gone quiet.
You now have a greater chance of seeing Santa Claus jogging down Oxford Road in the nude than of finding those fellow holders of green ID books.
While there are obviously some out there who are still lurking in the shadows‚ their voices have been drowned out by the unprecedented support that Semenya now enjoys.
By the way‚ did I mention that the very same critics who pleaded with Fifa to ban the vuvuzela had the same bloody instrument safely tucked in their luggage when they left this country?
I’m serious‚ folks. We were amazed when we saw some of the Spain players proudly clutching their vuvuzelas as they made their way to the boarding gates at OR Tambo International Airport at the end of the tournament.
What are the chances that Semenya’s detractors will also have a change of heart and be a lot a more accepting when the dust has settled?
South Africans do not take kindly to being told what to do
The 2009 Confederations Cup had brought all these visitors to our corner of the universe and after our guests had made themselves comfortable‚ they then decided they’d remodel the place more to their tastes.
It wasn’t long before they started to complain about things they did not like in this country and when they got a first taste of the South African vuvuzela‚ some of them nearly wet themselves.
They hated the plastic instrument as soon as they heard it and it was such fun listening to irate players‚ journalists and coaches trying to articulate their intense dislike for the bloody thing.
I remember the fun we had at a press conference that was held at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace‚ in Rustenburg‚ before Bafana Bafana played against New Zealand in a Confederations Cup match.
A near-hysterical Dutch journalist voiced his intense dislike for the vuvuzela to now disgraced former Fifa president Sepp Blatter‚ pleading with the portly Swiss gentleman to consider banning the “noisy and irritating instrument” before the start of the Soccer World Cup the following year.
“Why can’t South Africans celebrate like the rest of the western world?” asked our man as astonished South African journalists looked on.
Displaying the fine-tuned skills of a slippery politician‚ Blatter reminded his inquisitor that he was in Africa and to accept that local fans were never going to be anything like what he was accustomed to in Europe.
The Dutch journalist had the pained look of a man who was about to burst into tears when the match got underway and a crescendo of vuvuzelas threatened to blow the stadium’s roof down each time the Bafana players had the ball. Aaaah‚ such fun!
Now let me tell you something else‚ many of us also could not stand the vuvuzela. Seriously!
We also hated the bloody thing but when the Brazilians‚ the Spaniards‚ the Japanese and many others got it into their heads to tell us what to do‚ that’s where we drew the line.
Their arrogance rubbed us the wrong way and we went to war. And when our guests realized that Blatter was in SA’s corner and they were not going to get their way‚ they eventually gave up.
You would think that many of the so-called experts who are queuing up to give us their expert analysis on Caster Semenya would have taken something from the above and learnt by now that South Africans do not take kindly to being lectured by outsiders.
Hell‚ look around and you will notice that even those fellow South Africans who trawled news sites and made a point of leaving distasteful comments below every story written about Semenya have gone quiet.
You now have a greater chance of seeing Santa Claus jogging down Oxford Road in the nude than of finding those fellow holders of green ID books.
While there are obviously some out there who are still lurking in the shadows‚ their voices have been drowned out by the unprecedented support that Semenya now enjoys.
By the way‚ did I mention that the very same critics who pleaded with Fifa to ban the vuvuzela had the same bloody instrument safely tucked in their luggage when they left this country?
I’m serious‚ folks. We were amazed when we saw some of the Spain players proudly clutching their vuvuzelas as they made their way to the boarding gates at OR Tambo International Airport at the end of the tournament.
What are the chances that Semenya’s detractors will also have a change of heart and be a lot a more accepting when the dust has settled?
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