June 15th, 2009
Inspiration and Revolution in Cape Town, South Africa
The country of South Africa is engaged in another revolution, another revolution of inspiration and transformation and determination, from the roadways, to the top Cape Town hotels, to the billboards and the television ads. World Cup 2010 is the reason, and the painters, the musicians, the construction workers and the police force is stepping up to give international travelers one of the best experiences in the history of the World Cup. Many are giving the talents of their trades to the country. Mbekeni Mbili, a mosaic artist is exhibiting works with the theme of the games at the KZN Gallery. Previously, Sicelo Ziqubu presented works at the gallery of paper mache sculpture. In Cape Town, one of the cities most stricken with poverty, residents remove gang graffiti from the buildings and replace the walls with murals, all surrounding this tournament. Construction workers are refusing days off, in order to work on the stadiums throughout the country, and know that soon, they will see history being played in the arenas that they built.
Opening day of the 2010 World Cup, will be a momentous occasion as the country is rising up, to the raised eyebrows of the rest of the world, rising up to say, ‘yes’ we will do this in a way that has not yet before been experienced. The Vuvuzela trumpets are sounding this week. And when the South African soccer team, Bafana Bafana takes the field in the opening event, the world will realize that the choice was not one made with reckless abandon. This is the opportunity that South Africa as been in need of since the end of Apartheid, and one that will provide benefits for the country in years to come. The president, Jacob Zuma has stated that the people of his country are providing him with inspiration. He is looking around his country, at his people who have been working and struggling, and watching them work together in optimism. With sweat and hard work, the people of the country of South Africa will prove to the world that ‘yes–our infrastructure can handle this’, because they are the infrastructure, they are the inspiration.
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