When that final whistle blew, every South African knew it was over. This was the end for of the world cup road for our national team, Bafana Bafana. What struck me as a chronic non-soccer / football supporter was that I felt an immense sense of pride towards our country and the way we are hosting this world class event. This is when I realised, it does not matter that we as a country and the host nation did not make it to the next round, it does not matter that we started slow and ended on a high, it does not matter that we did not qualify. What matters is the fact that even without kicking a ball, the team, our team, my team succeeded in doing something amazing and extraordinary on our country. Something I have only experienced twice in my thirty one years of age, we where united as country. The first and last time was 1995. What matters are that what started as a game has turned into something more, it has created work, infrastructure and placed the focus of the world on us, our home, our country, South Africa.

For some strange reason though, I felt a stronger sense of pride in updating my facebook and twitter pages proclaiming that “I am and will always be truly South African” after that match than I felt saying it back in 1995. Has South Africa really changed that much in 15 years? Yes South Africa has changed, more importantly though I have changed. From a negative want to be ship jumper to a proud South African. I wore my Bafana shirt with pride each match day and waved my flag with pride. A while ago I wrote a letter asking “what is a South African?” and expressed wishes and dreams I had for our beautiful country. Sitting today and looking at the road we as a nation walked since the abolishment of apartheid, it fills me with hope for the future of those following in our footsteps.  While I will be the first to admit that we still have a long way to go in mending fences and being truly united as a nation, I am hopeful and excited about the future. With all the political turmoil and crap in the new and old parties, there’s still a lot of progress and bright lights that keeps giving me hope.

Although the world cup for South Africa has now ended in terms of our team, I have changed my support. I have now donned the flags of Ghana. The only remaining African country, bringing the joys of our beautiful and diverse country to their eyes. I will keep my enthusiasm for this world class event hosted in the most amazing country in the world flying high, by supporting all the remaining nations, sharing my joy, patriotism with their team and their citizens who has seen it fit to come to our backyard and show their support for us as a nation in hosting such an amazing event.

I would therefore like to challenge each and every South African to choose a team, any team currently still in the running for the finals. Support them, wave their flag, wear their jersey and show them what a truly amazing nation we can be. We might be out, but we are not down. As a nation we have achieved what most people said was impossible. We are successfully hosting the first ever African world cup and doing it with true African flair and charisma. Keep blowing your vuvuzela, keep wearing your makarpa and keep waving your flags, higher now than ever. We have opened our hearts to each other; let us now open our hearts to the world. Showcase our great spirit and unity in our diversity to the world.

What’s the next showpiece I would like to seen in South Africa? That’s and easy question to answer. I cannot wait to stand the long queues with offline systems to purchase my tickets to the very first Olympic games hosted in African soil, most importantly in South Africa.

Ke Nako!