‘Absent thee from felicity awhile’

We ere all quiet, deathly silent. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop if you had been there, except of course that you were not and so you could not have heard the proverbial, or — indeed, for that matter — any other, pin drop. But you would have heard the proverbial pin drop if you had been there. I had been out for lunch with two friends. Where we were they did not have the channel that was live from Singapore, covering the announcement of the city that had the won the right to host the Olympic Games in 2012. So I added to the revenue generated by my mobile network provider by phoning the office and asking that they alert me just before 1330 hours or once it looked like the announcement was going to be made-whichever was earlier.

I then asked the lunch-mates to excuse me in advance and told them that once I got the call I would leave in a hurry and rejoin them later. The call came and the hurried departure followed. Then I sat and waited. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop. A workmate came by and joined me. Then another. We were all quiet. I asked, almost rhetorically: "But why are three Africans disturbing their lunch to watch an event that involves five Caucasian cities?" "We are former British subjects and so have an interest in what is happening here. We have a city in the hat! We want the Olympics to go to London," said one of the workmates. Then we all became quiet. Deathly silent. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop if you had been there. Then Monsieur Jacques Rogge spoke: "The International Olympic Committee has awarded the Games of the 30th Olympiad to the City of London."

Unlike in Shakespearean England, the rabblement did not exactly hoot and throw up their sweaty nightcaps. But it was a good imitation. Covent Garden, Kensington Gardens, TrafalgarSquare, Oxford Street, Tottenham, King's Cross, West End, 10 Downing Street, nay Buckingham Palace! There was nothing like it. Then came the bombs. Like Colonel Kurtz in Conrad's magnum opus, The Heart of Darkness, the city cried: "Horror, horror." London was in the heart of darkness, hit by four bombs- some of them targeted at the underground railway system — in the worst terrorist attack in its history. The number of fatalities had risen to fifty-two by last Wednesday, a week after the nightmare. The victorious Bid Committee, led by the charismatic Lord Sebastian Coe and including a member of the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace, another member of the other royal family from Berkingham Palace and London Mayor Ken Livingstone, immediately returned home as everyone joined Hamlet in adjoining Horatio to "absent thee from felicity awhile." The Committee led in the signing of the condolence book.

Rewind to that May Day of 2004. We were all quiet, deathly silent. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop if you had been there. Of course you were there. Except that you did not hear the proverbial pin drop because no pin, never mind proverbial, dropped. We were all careful with our haberdashery and did not drop any pins. We could not have dropped any pins. It was too special an occasion to spoil by dropping a pin. Then Herr Joseph Blatter spoke: "And the host for the 2010 FIFAWorld Cup is . . . South Africa!" Unlike in Shakespearean England, the rabblement did not exactly hoot and throw up their sweaty nightcaps. But it was a good imitation. There was nothing like it. Thank God . . . now, now, Mr Banda, I thought we had agreed that we do not do the church-thing in this column? Please accept my sincerest apology, folks. But when he saw two men of the cloth trawl and traverse a street in a red light district, did the non-believer not shout: "Thank God, I am an atheist!" So that is settled. And so we can proceed.

Thank God, that host announcement is where the similarities between what happened in May last year and what happened a fortnight ago end. But we need to look further and draw positive learnings for the road to South Africa 2010 from London 2012. No sooner had the Metropolitan Police started to sift through the debris for signs and signals and the rest of London to clear the rest of the rubble from the bombings than those involved in the preparation for the Games of the 30th Olympiad were looking at the task at hand. They had mapped it out: go for it on the back of an aggressive marketing and lobbying campaign channelled through the charisma of the Bid Team personnel, win it as the One Planet Olympics, celebrate it on Wednesday the 6th of July and start preparing for it in earnest the next day. There was no time to nurse a hang-over from Singapore. That a coordinated series of attacks targetted at the bus and underground railway system ripped through London's transport system on that back-to-work Thursday was tragic and an emergency that nobody had planned for, a tragedy and an emergency that nobody could have planned for, a tragedy and an emergency that nobody can ever plan for. For is it not the nature of such attackers to "look like innocent flowers, but be the serpent under it." (Quoted from Macbeth: Act 1 Scene V.)

But work had begun before the bombings and the work would continue afterwards. And so on one day they changed London, on the next day others changed London and then on the third day the first lot was out again, working again to change London, working in preparation for a worldwide spectacle. Sports Minister Tessa Jowell came out as the Olympics Minister. She will have overall responsibility. But there are other supporting structures and infrastructure. Two months ago Her Majesty the Queen presented a speech that contained legislation to create the Olympic Development Agency- a statutory body that will have its own planning powers. There will also be a separate development agency to supervise the construction work. Everyone is clear about the mission: to deliver to the world in 2012 the best Games ever. But that will be no mean feat. Sydney was superb and Athens up there. And I am not just saying that because it was my humble honour to be at both. Sydney, for example, is widely acclaimed as the benchmark as far as greening the Games is concerned. And both got high marks for security, a well-nigh impossible feat to achieve in these days when innocent civilians have become the softest of targets. But the London 2012 people have their vision and they aim to achieve it. How are we doing, South Africa 2010?

The involvement of the locals is key to the success of any major sporting event. Both South Africa and London have done very well so far in this regard, but that is no reason to go easy on the gas-pedal. The involvement of the locals goes beyond the design of a bid and the composition of a bid panel. It goes beyond the hundreds and thousands of volunteers that are the spirit and driver of the event outside play. It goes onto the terraces and beyond them onto the television screen and beyond that to the world. Thanks to live television, international sporting tournaments now offer the hosts a captive world audience. South Africa therefore has the chance in 2010 to market itself, the region and the continent to a world audience . . . for a month! It would help if the stadium is full. Then the world can see as we blow our vuvuzelas and spot our grossly-rimmed spectacles, as we laugh, cry and flirt on the terraces, as our women dance around in their sport finery that we too are a people. That we are more than the sum on BBC, CNN and Sky. The corruption, the disease, the famine, the hunger, the poverty and the wars yes, but do not forget, amidst all this, the humour, the human, the humane and the humanity. Oh and, of course, the women! One sure way of guaranteeing bums for seats is to ensure there is an incentive for the locals. And there is no better such than to ensure that they get to watch their own against the world. Thus London has been talking about ensuring that they have competitive entries across the broad spectrum of the Olympic disciplines. For South Africa, the challenge is tougher: ensure that Bafana Bafana stay as long as possible in the tournament. (Read: go all the way!).

It was encouraging then to read that they have launched an under- 19 soccer tournament there. The top seven of the country's Premier Soccer League clubs will take part in the SuperSport Cup at Orlando Stadium in Soweto early next month. The winners will represent South Africa at a leading youth tournament in Europe. Look beyond the excitement of watching the future of Jomo Cosmos, Kaizer Chiefs, Moroka Swallows, Orlando Pirates, Silver Stars, Sundowns and Supersport United at play, joined by an Invitation X1 from Soweto. Forget about the global opportunities that may open to the winners when they parade on the European stage. Look at the plant that such a tournament is cultivating for 2010. Thirteen South African cities and towns have until June 2008 to meet the deadline set by the world soccer-governing body, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). The FNB Stadium in Johannesburg will be the showpiece for the global showcase. It is here that the plum fixtures will be. Over and above hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, FNB is the site for one of the semi-finals and the plum on the pudding, the final match. There is need for the cities audits to be severe and spare no survey as they look at whether a city has the road and rail networks, information technology systems, the hotels and the airports so crucial in hosting major events. Each city should have its proposal endorsed as a fool-proof business case before it spends a rand on the construction of a mega-stadium that will have not even a mini-match to host after the World Cup. Africa cannot afford the Japanese experience of bringing down three stadiums rendered redundant after the 2002 World Cup. Yes, it is a long way to 2010. But do not, not even for a moment, forget that it is no easy walk to 2010.

Once preparations hit the home stretch to the tournament, the South African organisers will have to hand over to Fifa clean venues, that is stadiums devoid of commercial content. The world body and its sponsors will move in and dress the venues in their manner. Fifa then takes over the show until the curtain comes down. So only when the stadiums are handed over should our felicitations begin. Until then, it is not yet felicity. It is sweat, sweat and sweat. So, in parting, South Africa 2010, "absent thee from felicity awhile" and continue with the hard work.