The World Cup moment

World Cup, the greatest sporting event on our planet, has come and gone. It was  staged by our South Africa, a third world country, still in the earlier stages of development.

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The fact that we actually could not afford to stage such an event was brushed under the carpet. Human rights concerns about human displacement, brutalization of the homeless, ill treatment of vendors and irresponsible allocation of scarce resources, were simply fobbed off.

We needed to have this party … apparently to make us feel good about ourselves … and do something for the name and reputation of our leaders … and for Africa …

As South Africans we needed to present a refurbished image as our country affirmed its presence on the world stage.

Now we have the unaffordable multi billion Rand stadiums, as permanent monuments to our self indulgence. Sadly, editors in neighboring Botswana have agreed that the World Cup did nothing for Botswana and probably nothing for Africa.

We also have had teachers, nurses and others on strike, to the terrible prejudice of pupils and patients. They claim to be underpaid. They are underpaid … and have been for years!

But there is no money! What little money there was; was spent ... spent on our grand World Cup party … to make us, and our leaders, look good.

Near the end of the World Cup a 3 - 4 year old little girl, whom I will call Nomsa, was interviewed by a reporter, live on TV.

Reporter:  So Nomsa, tell us, who was the best player, who do you think was the best player?

Nomsa:      … er … er …

Reporter:  Oh' come on now Nomsa … was it Aaron Mokoena … or Teko Modise … hey … or Siphiwe Tshabalala … huh … tell us Nomsa … or Didier Drogba … huh … tell us Nomsa …. Who was the best?

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The answer then came, from a face of utter innocence and a voice of such sweet plaintiff simplicity … the simplicity of truth.

Nomsa:      u … u’Forlaan [Diego Forlan]

This little girl, with a mind unencumbered by racial and ethnic prejudice, saw only truth, nothing else ... not what she was being prompted to see ... and chose Diego Forlan, blonde haired striker of Uruguay, as the best player of the tournament.

She was soon proved right, as Diego Forlan was then voted as the best, and officially acknowledged as such. Wow! “Out of the mouths of babes oft time come gems”.

“Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”

Is it at all possible for all of us to learn something from this defining moment? We were given such a fantastic start by Nelson Mandela. Can we not rid ourselves of the demons of the past?

How very, very wrong the reporter was in her presumptuousness. How very wrong. But do we see it?

Preoccupation with race, ethnicity and skin colour was an apartheid cornerstone! Why are we perpetuating it?

What are we teaching our children?

Can we not see that it is an obscenity when a court of justice is constrained, by our new race based laws, to rule that a Chinaman is Black!? Can we not see that we are legitimizing lies ... damned lies!?

Can we not just dump it ... dump it … as a culture that demeans us ... a culture of evil … that begets evil!?

But, No!; we can’t … we have race based Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerment … all ever so nicely packaged for a hopefull nation ...

policies that, in 15 years, have induced nominal transformation … serving the interests  of but a privileged few, distracting our young nation from real transformation and social and justice.

Can we not see that to have a system where –

·         a black person is entitled to employment or a contract, as of right,

·         with a white person being denied, regardless of personal circumstance

·         and a brown skinned person considered only if he/she is prepared to claim and prove that he/she is black …

is racist … racism of a most pernicious kind … howsoever packaged? Are we now all just sheep on Animal Farm?

 “The answer is simple: truth is is anything that corresponds to reality. As such truth is not determined by the popularity of a book like "The Da Vinci Code". Nor is it a matter of preference or opinion.

Truth is true even if everyone denies it, and a lie is a lie even if every one affirms it. When sophistry, sensationalism and superstition sabotage truth, our view of reality is seriously skewed.” Hank Hanegraaff