Its time we focus on what we’re not good at
Could we pull off the Olympics in Durban? Yes we could. Should we, however, is a different and more complex question. We’ve proven time and again that South Africa can play host to any sporting event and give its visitors the experience of their lives. I’d be happy to say that if there’s one thing we’re good at in South Africa its hosting sporting events.
But what about the things we haven’t proven ourselves to be very good at? Inevitably these areas of neglect are far less worthy in the eyes of the newsman than a glamorous sporting event. Quality education, fighting crime and corruption and providing for the basic needs of all South Africans are far more important to our future than hosting another glitzy sporting event.
Am I saying they’re mutually exclusive goals? No they may not be, but hosting the Olympics should not be to the detriment of those more important priorities. We must be shown that an Olympic Games in Durban will be profitable or at very least break even. A Games which soaks funds and resources away from our priority items is a games hosted by a Government keen to focus on the glitz and away from the tough, ugly reality that too many South Africans still call life.
The SWC has put Durban on the map and many picked it as the best host City of the games. South Africa, like Germany before it, was able to take advantage of the event to shed long standing negative perceptions about our country. It may be necessary to use the Olympics to the same end in 10 years time if Government does not focus its resources on the real priorities.
The liberated black majority remain poorly catered for by the Government. The sweet taste of freedom has been gradually bittered by the growing understanding that freedom alone, without the means to realise it, lives only in the heart. To give those people a chance to live a life of dignity and opportunity, Goverment needs to start working on those things its not good at.
