Well, it’s here.  2010 and all that.  With a World Cup mere months away, tentatively positive news on the economic horizon, and a number of other factors that tell us, either loudly or subtlely, that this is going to be South Africa’s year.

Everyone is talking about South Africa at the moment.  Obscure celebrities are perusing their atlases to find out where South Africa is, in case they are called upon to visit.  Likewise world politicians and most journalists.  Travellers, being a lot more savvy than most, already know where South Africa is and have most likely already contacted friends and relatives to warn them that they will shortly be arriving on doorsteps, soccer tickets in hand.  Every soccer-playing nation (and c’mon – who isn’t nowadays…) already knows when and where their team is playing and is eagerly analysing their chances. I must confess that this time last year I was bitterly cynical about the World Cup.  I had been working too closely with the people behind preparations for 2010 in Durban – and if there is anything that will sour your perspective on human nature, try working with the people behind the 2010 project in Durban!  It is enough to make one want to resign from the human race.  There were also the reports of corruption swirling around FIFA, the questionable tactics of MATCH, the astounding restrictions placed on marketers and the press, the blanket ban on flights, arguments about price-gouging, the long school holidays – I had decided that I was going to flee the soccer hooligans, the political posturing, the crowds and congestion…. And pitch a tent for five weeks in the wilds of Botswana or Namibia. And then I went to see Invictus.  Twice, in fact, because the first time I saw it was in the US and I was so busy explaining the game of rugby and translating the Afrikaans for my American hosts that I didn’t see much of the film. For those who have not seen it, Invictus is a typical underdog-becomes-top-dog movie about a no-hoper sports team who gets their once-in-a-million chance and subsequently turn into champions.  Except that the sport is rugby, the team is the Springboks, the event is the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the central figure is then-President Nelson Mandela who saw the chance to unite a divided country behind a national team.  It is a brilliant film on many levels – Morgan Freeman is more Mandela-like than Mandela, Matt Damon mastered the Sarf Effrican eksent, and the story is well told. Who cares whether the film-maker took a few liberties with the real story; if the rugby was not that authentic; if some of the episodes did not ring true - it is still an exceptionally inspiring tale.  It showed the potential of sport to unite former adversaries behind a common goal.

It was only when I saw the film the second time that I realised the resonance of this film for the Soccer World Cup.  The film is actually not about rugby, or even about Nelson Mandela – it is about risk and opportunity and shaping your own destiny.  I wondered then if the film’s release - the beginning of South Africa’s World Cup year - was clever marketing, or a deal struck in heaven, or just happy co-incidence. The Soccer World Cup is going to be our Invictus moment.  It is unlikely that Jacob Zuma will be able to pull off the same miracle of reconciliation that Mandela did – he is a different type of leader altogether and the country is a very different place.  But there is nothing stopping us from having our own personal victory over the negativity that has (with justification) surrounded many attitudes to the tournament. My short sojourn abroad over the festive season showed me just how excited the rest of the world is about the Soccer World Cup.   This really is our once-in-a-lifetime chance.  Forget the awful politicians, the mess that is SAFA, the roadworks, the potential congestion, the restrictions, our woeful soccer team.  Focus instead on showing the world why we are proud to be South African: our heartbreakingly beautiful country; the huge smiles of our people, the warmth of our service; our genuine hospitality; our natural humility and kindness.  The film Invictus takes its name from a poem written in 1875 by an obscure Victorian poet called William Ernest Henley, and it celebrates the unconquerable spirit.  We have this unconquerable spirit in spades. So – find your own Invictus and show it to the world.  The world is watching.  (By the way, in real life the inspiration given to SA rugby captain Francois Pienaar was actually a speech with a similar theme from Pres. Theodore Rooseveld.  But who cares…it’s still a great story.  And another thing – if you are already shaking out the tablecloths for the World Cup, accept my apologies for preaching to the converted.  It is the Grinches like myself that need the call to arms!)