South Africa

South Africa’s football team, known as Bafana Bafana or “The Boys,” open the World Cup this afternoon with a game against Mexico, a game they will be hoping to win if they are to progress past the group stages in this tournament.South Africa have made it to two World Cup finals tournaments before- in 1998 and 2002- but they have only recorded one victory, 1-0 against Slovenia in 2002. They did not progress past the group stages in either tournament but recent form in the Confederations Cup last year, in which they came fourth, indicates that they have a good chance of improving on that showing this time around. They will certainly hope to avoid being the first host nation not to make it!

Aiming to stop that happening are France, Mexico and Uruguay- the other teams in qualifying group A. France have traditionally been a strong side, but their form has suffered in recent years and famously it took a Thierry Henry handball in the playoff with Ireland to qualify them for this year’s tournament. They should never be discounted, however- after all, they made it to the final of the last tournament in 2006 and they’re still ranked 9th in the World according to FIFA.

Mexico are also a potentially dangerous team, ranked 17th in the World according to FIFA and with a good run of form going into this year’s tournament. They deserve a lot of respect after defeating current champions Italy 2-1 in Brussels earlier this month, and they are strong contenders for a qualifying spot in Group A which means a win against them this afternoon would go a long way to securing South Africa’s last-16 hopes.

South Africa won’t have an easy time of it, however- not if Uruguay have anything to say about it at least! Uruguay are ranked 16th in the World according to FIFA, but with their World Cup pedigree they will never be satisfied with anything less than a tournament win- so qualifying won’t be an easy task! All in all, South Africa will have an uphill climb to make the last 16 of this tournament, in spite of their status as the host nation- it’s a strong group- but with their recent international form in the Confederations Cup they’re certainly in with a shout!

There is a certain extent to which this reflects South Africa’s wider position at the moment. Since Nelson Mandela retired from politics in 1999, the country has struggled to find a strong and respected leader who can unite the country, and with no credible opposition in Parliament the ANC has begun to show signs of the strain. Rumours of corruption, an energy grid that is already running within a hairs-breadth of full capacity and the continuing issue of widespread poverty remain problems for the South African government and people, and AIDS has reached near epidemic levels in some areas.

Many of these problems have been highlighted in the build-up to the World Cup. There have been rumours of backroom dealings and disappearances among dissenting councillors over the contracts to build several of the stadiums, and much of the promised local development for the communities around the arena sites has yet to materialise- leaving many areas with the incongruous sight of slum townships within a stone’s throw of a brand new world-class football stadium.

Yet, for all that, there is hope: South Africa’s economy remains strong, and its governance is still widely regarded as being among the best on the sub-Saharan continent. It has more heavy industry than most African nations and an 86 per cent literacy rate, as well as a relatively well developed infrastructure- the roads are some of the best in Africa! With slightly less than ten per cent of the population on the Internet and a poverty rate of about fifty per cent there is still a way to go- and a lot that Computers 4 Africa can do to help- but South Africa has some bright prospects in its future, and is well-placed to overcome its present challenges!