A Tribute to South Africa

My dear friend who recently visited South Africa had these reflections:

Sorti de l'apartheid il y a 16 ans, l'Afrique du Sud est toujours en proie a d'important clivages sociaux. Consequence directe ou indirecte, Johannesburg, sa capitale economique, est consideree comme une des villes les plus dangereuses du monde. Ses quartiers residentiels ressemblent a de veritables showrooms geants pour l'industrie de la securite civile. Dans ce climat, beaucoup etaient(sont) legitimement inquiets quant au bon deroulement de cette coupe du monde, mais le gouvernement sud africain semble avoir pris cette question tres au serieu. 

A Cape Town, capital legislative, on a deja pu voir quelques benefices presumes de cet evenement, avec l'apparition de nouvelles habitations plus modernes pour reloger les habitants des Townships juges trop visibles pour les touristes. L'Afrique du Sud c'est aussi un vrai pays d'Afrique comme on les imagine enfant, avec des lions, des girafes et des elephants, un des plus riches ecosystemes au monde. Sa faune attire ainsi beaucoup de touristes, pas toujours passifistes. Les predateurs economiques de monde entier s'y rendent effectivement en masse pour en ramener des trophes, au cours d'ecoeurantes partie de chasse "cles en main".

Hmmmm. 

True 3 journalists were robbed of everything yesterday.

True that people were relocated in South Africa to make room for Tourists.

True that all development aid, including a World Cup benefits the elites far more than the poor.

But, I must say the following.

What you are giving the kids of Africa, who have watched all the tournaments of heir favourite sport organized by their former colonist overlords in Europe, while their great stars play in Europe refusing to give back the same passion and dedication as to their rich clubs (yes you Drogba and Eto'o) this is an opportunity to feel much needed pride, no matter how many more incidents of crime of problems arise than in Germany last time around.

As for the relocations, well its naive. The shanty towns are a one way pitfall for any family, with no government influence, except bloody government armed police incursions, and the local warlords and Mafia which controls them and forces kids by intimidation, peer pressure and violence into drug use..... the shanty towns are an inescapable trap, they need to be moved, especially if the communities within are re-aggregated and divided to diffuse the criminal hold on them.... this is the only way that South Africa will progress.

So I wanted to add a tribute to the long way South Africa has come already in getting, and keeping this event. The World needs to stop only organizing events as important as this one in developed countries, because the world will not get better if Europe or America's rich and proud get richer and prouder. Here, even if economic benefit for the locals is an illusion rendered impossible by an already flawed original system, at least they will gain in pride, even if relocated from near-extinction circumstances to mediocre new homes.... and a memory that South Africa's poor and rich were for one month on the World's focus and radar.

As for Mandela, let's be honest, we sanctify people in life, revolutionaries like Walesa, Gorbachev or Ghandi because we need it... but they are only human... what did the world expect? For all South Africans to have access to education and for South Africa to have the development level of its former colonial masters after 16 years? Too much is usually expected of human beings in political circumstances, especially in grave and impossible ones as South Africa.

11 Languages, many ethnicities, and heaps of problems, and ONLY 15 years of recovery have prevented Civil War, and brought now the second major sporting event to the country, this time the biggest sporting event of all. So dear friends, I applaud's my friends's worried yet hopeful tone... and add that this is a milestone for the world, which is maturing and accepting that our world is extremely complicated, extremely difficult, but events, no matter how commercial or capitalist can bring an element of joy and hope to otherwise destitute lives and if you don't believe it just look on the faces of children football fans.