Two curiously contradictory pieces appeared in this week’s press, the one heralding a new found African unity between African nations, the other highlighting simmering tensions within South Africa between the majority black population and the sizable minority coloured population. That these two contradictory processes should occur is no real surprise but what is surprising is that they should surface right in middle of the World Cup action. One might have expected the local and national tensions to pan out in the opposite way.

One might have expected rivalries between the competing African nations to heighten for the duration of the Cup and the local tensions within South Africa to be put on hold until after the action had concluded. This, if the two journalists concerned have done their homework correctly, is not the case. Writing in The Independent 15/6/10, Alex Duval Smith produced an intriguing story from The Cape Flats, an old apartheid era dumping ground for non whites who were decidedly not welcome in neighbouring whites-only Cape Town. From here, Smith exposes the long standing antagonisms between Blacks and Coloureds, antagonisms that were carefully nurtured by the apartheid authorities as part of a divide and rule strategy. To get a flavour of these divisions Smith writes:

Curtis Brown does not own a Bafana Bafana top, and you won’t find him blowing into a vuvuzela horn in support of the South African national team. He is mixed race, and in a country that he views as being ruled by blacks for blacks, he has no sense of belonging of belonging to the national side. In the Cape Flats he is not alone.

Expanding on a bazaar irony, Smith draws out the parallel between the apartheid and post apartheid era:

The confusing football landscape of the Cape makes for a strange parallel with South Africa’s past. During apartheid, black South Africans would systematically support whichever team was playing against the all-white Springboks. Twenty years since Mandela’s release, coloured football supporters in the Cape Flats ganglands have opted to pin their hopes on individual players who are their heroes in Europe, in defiance of their own country.

To underline the bitterness felt between those of mixed race towards the rainbow nation Smith adds a quote from a local football enthusiast:

We produce the best footballers but they are not selected because the South African Football Association wants a black team.

As I said at the start, these contradictions are not surprising given that divisiveness was at the very heart of the apartheid state. But that these divisions should be exaggerated at a time of supposed national unity makes for an interesting journalist contribution.

The second article that stands in stark contrast to Alex Smith’s piece, is from David Smith writing in The Guardian 16/6/10 Under the heading, African fans unite to create hope of a rainbow continent, Smith provides a feel good, up-beat piece about African football fans supporting all the African teams when their own national team was not in action. Smith recounts the views of one Cameroonian fan.

I support Ivory Coast today because it’s one of the best teams in Africa. We have to support each team in Africa. Africa is one. Wherever we go in Africa, it is still one,

Continuing the theme of brotherly love, the chairman of the African Diaspora Forum in South Africa had this to say:

The vibe is great. All Africans are supporting each other. We get together every time an African team play. In South Africa we’re talking about about ubuntu humanity where people sit and share. Beyond the competition, football is bringing people together. We’re all looking at the legacy of the World Cup. I think the tournament is going to add some flavour of African humanity. After this, Africans are going to sit down and work together and not kill each other. This is going to unite people and produce new ideas.

Of course this view is more of a fine aspiration than a reality. It was only a few months ago that South Africans launched a violent pogrom against immigrant workers from other parts of Africa. I recall a number of immigrants lost their lives. But despite the grim reality, we should not be totally cynical about the post tournament possibilities. Smith concludes; With archbishop Desmond Tutu’s phrase, the rainbow nation in danger of being worn out by overuse, it could be time to hand over to the rainbow continent. My reply to Smith is simple: It’s all about the economy, stupid.