Visiting Zola Williams in his home in the township Delft near Cape Town he told us:
“This time we are happy because something very important is happening in our country, you know, a World Cup. It’s something, that no African country has ever had! It’s something unique, you see, we have to be happy, even if South Africa loses, because: It’s here! It’s in Africa!”
Regardless of skin colour, for the people of South Africa this World Cup is proof that fairy tales can come true: A people overcoming the horrors of apartheid, reinventing themselves in democracy and together screaming their very souls out as Siphiwe Tshabalala fires the ball into the Mexicans’ goal.
But this evening also shows that the nation of the post-apartheid era has overcome its divisions only on the surface.
This series is the essence of a behind-the-scenes journey, where the insurmountable differences between rich and poor, black and white, and the almost overwhelming problems of HIV, unemployment, all exacerbated by poor education, become apparent.
From my journey with Kai Schächtele looking behind the scenes of the World Cup 2010 from Cape Town to Johannesburg, first published on, first published on Die WM – ein Wintermärchen?
Our Blog was nominated for the German Grimme Online Award 2011.
