“We won the French!”

You would swear from the reaction of the crowd in the streets after the Bafana-French match that we were through to the next round. Everyone was beaming, blowing vuvuzelas, and dancing up and down with great pride. My best moment was when a stranger came up to me in Long Street and shouted happily: “We won the French, we won the French”.

I watched the match with friends and family in a great pub called Molobar above the well-known Texies on the Grand Parade

We were next door to the massive crowd in the Fan Fest and the roars of the vuvuzelas when Bafana scored were truly awesome

As someone said later on the radio: “Bafana may be out of the World Cup, but South Africa is still there”. That’s the spirit. I am convinced that one of the long-term dividends of the World Cup is the way it has rekindled South African public spirit.

There are particular moments in our country’s history that we can all remember – where we were when Nelson Mandela was released, where we voted in the 1994 elections, where we watched the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. Now, we will be able to add events of the past week to our list of memories – where we watched Bafana’s first goal against Mexico, the magic of walking along the Fan Walk with thousands of other people on the way to a match, the joy and solidarity in the streets of the city even though Bafana is out of the Cup.

It may sound a bit sentimental and mawkish but it’s not. We will need every ounce of this spirit in future if we are to successfully address the more difficult challenges that we face – poverty, unemployment, homelessness, drugs, crime, global warming. One of the reasons why we have not been able to achieve as much as what we would have liked is a lack of local and national solidarity, trust, teamwork, enthusiasm and ‘can do’ attitudes. These qualities are often more important for meeting the development challenges than all the funding, legislation, policies and plans.

By the way, I can’t wait to see the Dutch fans in Cape Town on Thursday. They have been travelling in convoy around South Africa in their campervans.

The Dutch are coming! (Photo courtesy unknown)

The Dutch are coming (Photo courtesy unknown)

The Dutch are coming (Photo courtesy unknown)

The Dutch are coming (Photo courtesy unknown)