World Cup

On 1 January 2010, South African President, Jacob Zuma, released his New Year's message to the country. In his statement he marked the beginning of 2010 as the most important year for the nation since 1994. Arguably the most iconic date in South African history, 1994 was the year of South Africa's first democratic elections. It was in these elections that Nelson Mandela won a resounding victory to become the first unanimously elected president by the people of South Africa.

In his New Year address, Zuma focussed on how far the country had come since those first democratic elections. “Together as a nation we set the tone and made history in April 1994. We embarked on a phase of reconciliation and forgiveness, and worked hard to build one nation, united in its diversity. We have done well in this regard. The year 2010 is our next critical moment,” said Zuma.

FIFA.com went to the halls of academia and the corridors of big business to gauge the reaction to Zuma's words to the nation. Lawrence Hamilton, a Professor of politics at the University of Johannesburg and an affiliated lecturer at Cambridge University, feels that that Zuma was right in marking the year as an auspicious occasion for the nation. “It is an important year for the country, given that a lot is expected of South Africa, a lot of pressure to perform.”

On a personal level Hamilton feels that the country has a unique opportunity to set the record straight on certain issues. “The FIFA World Cup and other such massive media and sporting events are really a kind of showcase. I spend a lot of the year in England, and I can tell you that South Africa is still thought of as a dangerous place to travel, so it does offer a very ...