Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo has called on South Africans to ignore rumours that African countries had voted against South Africa hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
”It was done through a secret ballot … when members voted they did not write their names on the ballots … even when claims are doing their rounds, nobody can bring up conclusive evidence,” said Khumalo.
”We should celebrate the victory that members of Fifa have shown confidence in South Africa to host the World Cup on African soil.
”The World Cup is about unity, not dividing people,” he said.
The Reuters news agency reported on Saturday that the four African members of Fifa had voted for Morocco to host the tournament.
However, Ismail Bhamjee from Botswana, told The Star that he had voted for South Africa, adding that ”unless there was a ghost in the booth with me, nobody would know who I voted for”.
”The only thing that matters is that the people concerned with South Africa’s World Cup bid are well aware of who I voted for, and they all know it’s South Africa,” he told The Star.
In true African fashion, the South African bid committee bearing the official certificate to host the tournament, were welcomed to President Thabo Mbeki’s house by a group of traditional healers in Pretoria on Sunday.
Fifteen traditionally dressed sangomas, blessed the certificate in the smoke of an impepho (a smoking calabash), thanking their ancestors for the victorious South African bid. They also prayed for a successful tournament in 2010.
”To our traditional healers thank you very much. They have come to bless this occasion and the work that must be done,” said President Thabo Mbeki.
Bid committee chief executive Danny Jordaan, accompanied by chairperson Irvin Khoza, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, Sports Minister Makhenkhesi Stofile, businessman Tokyo Sexwale and former Ghanaian soccer star Abedi Pele, triumphantly marched through the gates of Mahlamba’ Ndlovu to present the framed certificate to Mbeki.
SA Football Association president Molefi Oliphant thanked Mbeki for taking part in the bid presentation and for the effort he had put in behind the scenes to ensure South Africa was successful.
”South Africa is fortunate to host the world cup in 2010. The head of state played an important role in this. On behalf of all in football, thank you very much,” he said.
Mbeki said the document gave permission for the World Cup to finally come to South Africa and again thanked Fifa for the trust placed in the country.
The bid committee arrived at Johannesburg International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland on Sunday morning. They were paraded through the streets of Alexandra and Soweto in an open deck bus.
Mandela: ‘I feel like a young man of 50’
In Zurich on Saturday there was high drama as Fifa president Sepp Blatter made his pre-announcement speech.
Blatter told a news conference the vote was over in the first round with South Africa receiving 14 votes to Morocco’s 10.
”We can all applaud Africa. The victor is football. The victor is Africa,” Blatter said.
The win came four years after South Africa lost the bid to host the 2006 event by one vote to Germany.
The South African delegation in Zurich, including former president Nelson Mandela, erupted in noisy celebrations, international news agencies reported.
Mandela, the country’s favourite pensioner, said: ”I feel like a young man of 50 … The beauty of this victory is that we were dealing with highly capable competitors.”
The master of Fifa
The secretary general of the Egyptian Soccer Federation was devastated that his country did not secure a single vote despite getting the second-highest marks in a technical report in the run-up to the decision.
”I can’t comprehend what’s happened. I never felt that our chances were very great, but I never imagined that we wouldn’t get a single vote,” Adly al-Qaei was quoted as saying.
The Moroccans, who were seen as the main threat to the South African favourites, failed in their fourth bid to be the first African and first Arab country to host the finals.
”Today Blatter used all his weight to influence the outcome of the vote,” a member of the Morocco 2010 organising committee told the RTM radio station, agencies reported.
”He is the master of Fifa and decides everything,” he added.