We were lucky enough to get box tickets to see the Boks play the All Blacks. And we had a really great afternoon out. And what a view the box had. This was during the warmups.
The atmosphere, the gees, the actual match second half of the actual match, the winning try scored right underneath us. The excellent service and free-flowing drinks. A very cool day, all in all.
And with that winning try, South Africa won the Freedom Cup, and all but sealed the The Rugby Championship 2024.
And a lovely touch as we left the well-planned, well-executed event at the Stadium – nice work, City of Cape Town – the biggest national flag I’ve ever seen. (It’s generally not something that I keep a record of, but I can’t think of a time I’ve seen a bigger one.)
It’s certainly reignited my appetite for live sport, and for going along to the stadium again. I was there for the first and second ever events they held there, and several – or more – since, but it’s been a while.
We’re less than 6 months away from elections in South Africa. This process will unfortunately result in one (or – worse still – more) of the local political parties trying to form a government. But in the run up to those elections, we can expect populism, bribery, misinformation, disinformation, violence, scapegoating, xenophobia, and a whole raft of untruths and empty promises.
All of which will be lapped up and amplified by a fully dysfunctional, AI-assisted social media, and those dodgy anti-SA sites like Daily Investor and TheSouthAfrican.
It’s started already, with one certain divisive political figure spouting bullshit to anyone who will listen in an effort to be controversial,
Maybe he was thinking of the very similar sport of Nqanqarhu: named for the posh school in the Eastern Cape where Wandile Qwebe-Mwelis first picked up the football and began running with it.
And while this is so clearly and demonstrably incorrect, it’s actually laughable, there are plenty within his party who will believe him. And sadly for us, and the country in general, the polarisation of politics is so great at the moment, that they will then go on to believe him on more serious matters, never mind the fact that he’s merely doing it for clout and votes.
And yes, he got his name into the headlines again. Just what he wanted.
I guess that the positive side of this is that the polarisation of politics is so great at the moment, that it’s unlikely that he will sway anyone into voting for the EFF while talking this sort of nonsense. But it is rather scary that there’s a good possibility that the EFF and this clown may become Kingmakers next year, should the ANC’s demise be as bad as everyone expects.
It’s not like anyone else is doing much better. You’d think that with such a proven disastrous government in place, it would be easy pickings to win the election. But things are more complicated than that: there’s a whole lot of history to overcome for a start, and then there’s the infighting and instability amongst the opposition parties, the ridiculous pipe-dream (is there such a thing as a “pipe-nightmare”?) of “Cape Independence” and the power-crazed individuals driving it, and even the unnecessary stances on the Israel situation.
The aftermath of the elections promises to be a complete mess, but there’s not a lot we can do about that. The run-up to the elections will also be horrific, but keep your calm, don’t believe everything you hear or read, and don’t be fooled into shouting for one side or the other. It won’t get you anywhere.
“Tour rugby is done. Broken. There’s no joy in such a technical game any more. All I see are fans, journalists, players and coaches remarking on poor refereeing decisions and deciding which players they feel will need to be suspended for next week because of what was missed in the previous game. Officials daren’t make a call anymore because then someone will make a two hour video about it and use it against them ahead of the next match. No-one’s talking about any skill or ability or amazing play – it’s all just technical shit and to see who can get the the other side into more trouble. Constant whinging and whining from all concerned. It’s utterly pathetic.”
It’s really sad that the pandemic has ruined the experience of the Lions’ tour to SA. It’s sadder still that whatever cool or exciting vestiges that might be left to be enjoyed are instead being ruined by everyone with any involvement. It’s just brought out the worst in everyone.
Let the record show that while I was crossing Main Road in Kenilworth today, I was almost struck by a black Land Rover Discovery driven by an ex-South Africa cricket captain.
I had to take the evasive action, because he was busy on his cellphone. Hmm.
This may have been a warning shot ahead of some planned SA sportsperson revenge for when I almost hit Jean de Villiers outside the Vineyard Hotel while driving a Renault Clio in early 2006.
No cellphone was involved that time (he stepped straight out from behind the team bus),
but some rubber was left on the road. Some stains were left on my seat.
My run this morning wasn’t great. I managed to pull back a bit of time at the end, but the combination of a gale force NorthWesterly wind, my reluctant legs and last night’s disappointing meal at the Blockhouse Kitchen at Uitsig weighing me down made for a tough five kilometres.
The country is on hold this morning, wondering whether the Springboks can make it through to the Rugby World Cup final. They’ve had something of a free run so far: since losing losing to New Zealand on the opening day, they’ve only played one team ranked inside the top ten. And that was Japan.
And only one team in the top twenty. And that was Italy.
Wales might be a tougher test, but there’s always a French referee on whom to blame any prospective defeat.
Me? Well, the rugby is on in the background, but I’m doing jobs around the house and feeding myself with coffee and anti-inflammatories.
Later, I may drink some beer and watch some football. I deserve it.
UPDATE: As soon as I clicked the publish button and glanced at twitter:
