Let them blow their vuvuzela

Images of South Africa vary: from wild life to violent crime; from apartheid to Nelson Mandela; from rugby and cricket to football and from the kudu horn to the vuvuzela. It’s all there… and more, as Ray Bugeja found out for himself.

Melrose Arch in Johannesburg is a new upmarket area. It can well be compared to Canary Wharf in London, the centre of Berlin or, closer to home, that area in Paceville where the InterConti is located; only much better organised. A five-star hotel bearing the same name sits bang in the middle of the place, access to it controlled by security guards and electronic vehicle barriers.

You walk out of the hotel’s front door, under the watchful eyes of a very tall, black hotel security man – who would occasionally lift a traffic cone and blow into it mimicking the way one handles a vuvuzela – and you are in a huge square lined with eating places, snack bars and cafés. At the time I was there, a good part of the piazza was occupied by a giant monitor where, every night, World Cup games were screened live.

Those frequenting the area most of the time wore T-shirts and carried flags of the participating teams. The ubiquitous vuvuzela of course formed part of one’s “armour” and, unless you are eating or drinking beer, you just have to blow the instrument that became South Africa’s biggest and most successful export during the World Cup and, possibly, beyond.

During the day, residents and guests tour and do their shopping in the luxurious outlets dotted all over the place. They have their breakfast, snacks, tea and dinner and in between sip beer and visit places. In the evening, life stops to watch football.

A two-to-three-hour drive away and life is completely different. The only stark reminder of the World Cup 2010 are the few, very few, young South Africans selling flags and banners of participating teams to visitors on their way to Sun City or Pilanesberg Game Reserve. The big bulk of the roadside vendors sell bagfuls of oranges or other agricultural produce.

Children play in the golden-coloured soil, chasing each other or playing football. Though I cannot discount the possibility that their choice of football was closely connected with the World Cup, it seems black people in South Africa do enjoy playing the game.

Their elders sit on chairs or on the ground near their makeshift houses; small wooden structures mostly covered with steel corrugated sheets. Every so often, you are likely to spot a hair or beauty salon and the occasional car repair garage.

Groups of workers, mixed, toil close to the main roads, cutting yellowish grass as a few of them stop to hold their own private conversations.

For some reason, probably the images we are used to seeing on TV, I expected to see trees, bushes and other vegetation in all hues of green. But most of it was brownish yellow or even light brown. At the time, the country was entering winter and, surely, the scorching sun throughout the very long summer months had its effect on the grass and we were told it does not rain that much in winter either.

Often, you are likely to see vast areas of burnt vegetation. Bush fires, I was telling myself but, as if reading my mind, the driver/guide, Lutendo, explained that was done intentionally. He explained why but I failed to understand the reason exactly.

The man is evidently proud of his country and so knowledgeable too. In addition, he has eagle eyes. When we got to the national reserve, and drove across the main gate and past notices that you are entering at your own risk, that you are not to leave the vehicle, that all windows are kept close and not to put your hands out, he warned us to be on the look-out. There animals lived completely in the wild and the law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest, applied. Animals are not fed by humans; they must provide their own food by hunting.

Watch out for the big five, he told us, that is myself and three other colleagues. And spot them he certainly could, from very long distances away and, at times, hidden behind trees or bushes. Having its origins in hunting jargon and referring to the most dangerous and sought after trophies, Africa’s big five would be the lion, the black rhinoceros, the buffalo, the leopard and the elephant. The first we spotted was a lion eating a dead elephant and throughout the morning we saw the rest, bar one – the leopard – together with other wild beasts, including hippos, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, warth­ogs, springboks, impalas…

The day before we had been to the Lion Park, not far from the city. There, the animals are raised by humans and many of them are used for films, including a beautiful white lion that sleeps for 18 to 20 hours a day, surrounded by his harem.

At the Lion Park, you will also have the opportunity to play with lion cubs. Though under three months, they are still a handful and the advice given by their young handler is worth heeding. When you touch them, the girl will tell you, make sure you use some force, otherwise they will think it is a fly and they do not like that at all.

Are the animals teaching us humans a lesson, I wondered. Do they mean to tell use to be gentle but assertive in life?

There was another lesson I learnt when touring the park in a safari vehicle, which attracts the attention of full-grown lions and lionesses that move swiftly closer to see what’s going on.

As the vehicle stops, they – usually lionesses because the male species are fast asleep – stand on their hind legs and stick their face between the iron bars separating humans from beasts.

At one point, the safari vehicle stopped to give us time to admire and photograph some zebras. The young blonde guide asked whether we think the zebras are either black or white. If you remove the stripes, she then explained, you’ll find a grey-coloured animal. Perhaps another lesson the animals want to teach us humans: in life nothing is all white or all black!

The contrast with life in Melrose Arch is striking. Both the animals in the parks and the people living close by seem so serene, happy with the kind of life they lead, even if survival is not that easy, certainly not guaranteed, at least in the case of the animals.

The people’s disposable income cannot be anywhere near that of those frequenting Melrose Arch and their standard of living is way below.

Yet, they are evidently happy and proud. They are evidently proud of the improvements their country made, mostly thanks to Mr Mandela and the way he defeated apartheid. And, now, proud of winning the right to host the 2010 World Cup.

Former Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu once described South Africa as the “rainbow people of God”, a mixture of beliefs, tradition and heritage. A very fitting description indeed.

The people of South Africa say there are two worlds in one country: the First and the Third World. The rich are rich and the poor truly poor, notwithstanding the myriad of resources the country possesses. South Africa produces about 60 per cent of the continent’s power but more than half of the households have still to depend on paraffin, wood and gas for lighting, cooking and heating. When the first human heart transplant in the world was performed in Cape Town in the late 1960s, the majority of South African people were still struggling to obtain their most basic needs, such as food, shelter and education.

South Africa went through a long period of international political isolation because of the policy of racial discrimination – apartheid, or apartness – it practised for so many years. Apartheid stood in the way of harmony and economic growth.

Eddy Grant’s Give Me Hope Jo’anna is a well-known anthem from the 1980s, which was banned by the South African government when it was released. This is its last stanza:

“Even the preacher who works for Jesus, the Archbishop who’s a peaceful man, together say that the freedom fighters will overcome the very strong. I wanna know if you’re blind Jo’anna. If you wanna hear the sound of drum. Can’t you see that the tide is turning. Oh don’t make me wait till the morning come.”

The drum did sound, the tide did turn and a new morn did break. Mr Mandela was behind it all.

A hint of how Madiba, a term of endearment they use in his regard in his country, went about things once he was released from prison and eventually elected President of South Africa can be seen in Clint Eastwood’s 2009 film Invictus (Invincible). One of the film’s taglines explains in a nutshell his achievements: “His people needed a leader. He gave them a champion.” He gave them more than that. He gave them a new beginning; a new lease of life; a new target to work for.

The holding of the World Cup, against all odds, was proof of the new vigour Mr Mandela put in his country and his people. They have very good reason why to blow their vuvuzelas.

• Mr Bugeja visited South Africa as guest of Emirates Airline and watched Brazil-Chile and Paraguay- Japan at the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Emirates flies from Malta to Dubai daily with a stop-over in Larnaca, Cyprus. It operates flights from Dubai to three gateways in South Africa: Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Emirates will be launching a new route to Dakar in West Africa on September 1.

This will be its 19th destination to Africa and is the airline’s third new African destination in under than 12 months after Durban and Luanda joined the network in late 2009.