One of the tangible benefits of hosting the World Cup is the boost to sports development. The importance of sport as an effective instrument for social and economic development has been recognised across the Commonwealth membership. In World Cup terms, as the world's most popular sport, the global showcase has focused attention on the benefits football brings to millions of young people - the health benefits of physical activity, its educational benefits such as the development of leadership skills and above all, bringing diverse people together, unified in a common cause. Indeed, through its hosting of the 2010 World Cup, South Africans have - now more than ever - exemplified the spirit of the motto on its national coat of arms - !ke e:/xarra//ke, which in the Khoisan language means 'diverse people unite'.

South Africa's policy on sports was clearly demonstrated through its hosting of the first international sporting event in 1995 by co-staging and winning the Rugby World Cup. They followed it up the next year by hosting and winning Africa's football championship, the African Nations Cup, and then hosting the Cricket World Cup in 2003, which was won by Australia. The pre-cursor to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Confederations Cup, gave the nation (and its international visitors alike) a foretaste of what was to come.

Former President Nelson Mandela played an instrumental role in inspiring the national team to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup - as depicted in the Hollywood film Invictus - and a crucial role in securing the 2010 World Cup for South Africa and the African continent. South Africa has already confounded the critics and pulled off a massive logistical feat, spending US$5 billion constructing ten new stadiums and improving infrastructure, including the completion of the first high-speed train network on the continent. Some analysts predict the total gross economic impact will be US$12 billion.

In looking back at this World Cup, analysts will sketch a tale of African solidarity; many will weave a moving story of the sacrifices that the peoples of the African continent made, to ensure that the apartheid crime against humanity became a thing of the past. It will depict the contributions of freedom for which so many on the African continent have fought a valiant struggle. Hosting the tournament may well come to be viewed as the crowning moment of Mr Mandela's career and the pivotal event that demonstrates that the model of reconciliation he fought for has worked.

When both the final whistle and the last vuvuzela are blown at the final on 11 July and the carnival-like atmosphere dies down, the reality of life in South Africa will revert to normal. The South African Government will push ahead in extracting the benefits from the World Cup to address its five priorities, namely: education, health, rural development, job creation and crime reduction.

While the tangible benefits of the World Cup - new infrastructure, sports development initiatives and a boost to tourism - will long be felt, in looking forward to the future, South Africans from all walks of life may also reflect on the intangible benefits - a boost to national (and continental) self-esteem brought about through a public relations exercise of incomparable global magnitude and, above all, the forging of a unified sense of purpose. In doing so, they may pause to take heed of the words of former President Mandela in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom:

“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.”


  • Linford Andrews grew up in Cape Town and is Political Affairs Officer for Africa at the Commonwealth Secretariat.