Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile almost spoiled a perfect Valentine’s Day outing last Saturday for those of us who had found new love, with his controversial ”dreamland views” on Bafana Bafana.
Stofile was one of the guest speakers at the celebrations to mark the completion of the spectacular 350m-long arch of the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban.
While respectable names in the game such as 2010 local organising committee chairperson Irvin Khoza openly raised their concerns about Bafana Bafana’s ability to contest the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup, Stofile seemed detached from the performance of the team — especially the more recent 2-0 loss to Chile.
Khoza said: ”While we are making tremendous strides in preparing for the World Cup, Bafana Bafana’s performance remains our biggest challenge, which needs to be addressed to ensure that we don’t get embarrassed.”
The minister holds a different view.
He surprised all by declaring: ”Bafana Bafana will beat New Zealand, Spain, Egypt and Iraq during the Confederations Cup and will reach the semifinals of the tournament. In the World Cup, they will beat many teams including Brazil and also reach the semifinal stages.”
One wondered whether the minister takes the time to attend matches.
An honest assessment of the team’s chances in no way suggests that we don’t want Bafana Bafana to reach the knockout stages. But, looking at the team’s performance of late, it would be irresponsible to build false hope with talk of beating Spain and Brazil.
Maybe Stofile is one of the people who got carried away when Joel Santana won five consecutive matches against lightweights Zambia, Malawi, Equatorial Guinea and second-string sides from Ghana and Cameroon.
The minister would do more good if he encouraged better methods to prepare the team.
Stofile of course is no stranger to controversy. Early last year he suggested that Bafana Bafana be ”nationalised” — that is, top players would be pulled out of the Premier Soccer League set up for an unspecified period and placed in a training programme ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Even Fifa recognises the great investment clubs channel into the acquisition of players. This plan was fortunately not taken seriously.
Undeterred, the minister of sport was again found offside in the Springbok saga last year when he told a sports indaba in Durban that the Springbok emblem is a symbol of apartheid oppression that must be removed. Stofile went on to declare that the government is the rightful owner of the Springbok emblem. It emerged later, via legal firm Spoor and Fisher, that the emblem belongs to the South African Rugby Union.
The majority of the sporting fraternity can hardly be faulted for looking forward to the minister’s term ending in April.
Stofile aside, Valentine’s Day could not have been more sentimental as we fell in love with the arch of the 2010 Moses Mabhida stadium.
Although concerns remain about Bafana Bafana’s performance, the stadiums appear on course to meet the Fifa deadline of hosting Africa’s first World Cup finals.