Mr Speaker, let me recognise their Excellencies the President and Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, hon members, and compatriots and friends. Allow me to apologise, first and foremost, to those of our country who felt irked when the world resorted to Paul the octopus when their bones could have done a better job for Bafana Bafana during this tournament. MEC Mashamba, please convey our apologies to that group of people from Limpopo.
Allow me to thank Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, as well as the other Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. On 15 May 2004, Madiba - despite our pleas with him to stay in his hotel room and promises that we would go and announce the results to him - defied the whole leadership of the organising committee and said, "I will be there." Indeed, by the time we were invited in, he was there waiting for the results. Thank you very much, Zondwazintshaba [the one who is hated by enemies]. [Applause.] When we were in that small room, not knowing what to do or say, Archbishop Tutu made one proposal, which nobody resisted: "Let us pray." [Laughter.] Thank you very much, Tenza.
At the outset, let me also join the President in saying thank you to all South Africans and our international guests and supporters for a wonderful task completed since that day when Fifa awarded us the right to prepare for and organise the World Cup. I do not know how many letters of congratulations and offers of support we received from Africa and the rest of the world. We thank one and all.
However, above all, we must thank our fellow South Africans for the remarkable display of unity and samewerking [co-operation] when the time called for that. We forgot all our differences and focused on the job at hand. Not least among those were you, hon members. I followed all the debates on the matter in this House and I was impressed by the unanimity of each and every one of us with regard to the importance of hosting this very big event, which is second to none in the world.
We can declare today that our stated objectives have been achieved. Like the President quoting Pixley ka Isaka Seme, we were probably inspired by the same sentiments. In June 2005 we had already declared that we did not want to host a World Cup that was comparable to the German World Cup. In our strategic plans in the organising committee we declared that we wanted to host a memorable World Cup, which everybody would remember for many years and generations to come. I think we succeeded in doing that.
We even made a contribution to globalisation with the vuvuzela - anywhere and everywhere! Even those who banned it before 2010 are now running after it, because they do not want to be left out of the vuvuzela entourage.
The 2010 World Cup also introduced us to some of the countries of the African continent, something that we do not always take into consideration. We decided right at the beginning that at least the six qualifying nations would become part of our family, both in the preparations and in visiting their countries to motivate their own citizens to be part of this. We succeeded in bringing Africa together.
Indeed, I think we succeeded - as the President has said - in changing Afro- pessimism. Africa today is no longer seen as the heart of darkness where everything we touch simply rots. Our detractors "came, saw and were conquered". Some of them refused to leave and others are continuing to come back, Mr President. Right now we have a delegation from New Zealand. They have come to learn, from our experience, how to manage the 2011 Rugby World Cup in a way that is as close to ours as possible. They are also here to discuss other things that I will come to towards the end of this input. Thank you very much, Mzantsi.
Thank you, Fifa, for standing your ground no matter how great the barrage was. President Blatter continued to say: "Plan B, South Africa; Plan C, South Africa." [Applause.] Thank you very much indeed.
The tournament exposed us to how good it is to be South Africans. I think we would all declare that during that one month we discovered who we are as South Africans. We forgot all else that divides us. Rev Meshoe, Hebrews 12:1 became a reality during that period of our history. Thank you very much indeed.
It again proved what we have been arguing all the time, that all of us South Africans agree on the type of South Africa that we are trying to build - a nonracial, democratic, nonsexist South Africa, where prosperity and peace prevail. Our differences emerge when we discuss the strategies and tactics of how to get to our stated goal. The challenge now is: How do we take the 2010 World Cup experience forward? How do we invest this experience for the future of our children and of our country?
At this stage, I must thank my colleagues in Cabinet. It is not very easy to get that team working together in the same direction all the time. The temptation to go off on a tangent is always with us, but not this time around. Our colleagues were very helpful, very co-operative, and indeed even those who were not part of the guarantees insisted on participating as well. [Applause.] I think this inclusivity is what we should take from the World Cup. I can assure you that it will take us many miles in a very short time.
The Premiers of the provinces, their MECs and the host city mayors were no junior partners in this partnership. Although some of them came after the guarantees had been signed, they just took the yoke upon themselves and made it happen. I want to apologise to the Premier of Gauteng and the Executive Mayor of Tshwane for harassing them so much about the German base camp issue, but it came right in the end, and it came right at the right time. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Like the rest of the walk to freedom and democracy, how we use those experiences is not going to be an event of one day. It is not going to be something that happens before the end of this year. It is going to be an arduous trip, just like the road to 2010 was very long and very difficult. It is going to need the goodwill and support of all sectors of society, especially the public and private sectors.
Government needs to provide leadership and to be a catalyst. The private sector needs to come on board with the required resources, both human and material. This will ensure that the various role-players that shape the economy collaborate in a symbiotic manner to make it happen for the whole country. This is one lesson bequeathed to us by organising the 2010 World Cup.
I'm glad that the leaderships of Safa and the Premier Soccer League, PSL, are here today because I saw them squabbling yesterday in the portfolio committee meeting about who was going to play where and who was going to pay what. To the different federations of our country I want to say that this is neither the time nor the place to discuss those things. The Host City Forum will sit together with our departments, and we will advise the municipalities on how best to manage these things without falling prey to the management companies that make the federations complain that access to these facilities is very expensive. Indeed, it will be expensive if you unleash the market forces to determine how we run our public facilities.
When we built these facilities, we said that we were placing in the hands of our people the sort of facilities they have been clamouring for, and for which they have never taken responsibility in the past. We can't now just desert that responsibility and place those facilities in the hands of private managers who in managing them want to make maximum profits overnight.
The public and private sectors will, especially, have to give very serious leadership here, to make sure that South African business people, who met very promising potential partners from across the world, do not turn their backs on us. The space created by the mood during the World Cup, as well as the reverberating rebranding and refocusing of our country in the eyes of the world, must be converted into investment opportunities. We must not wait too long, lest London 2012 and New Zealand 2011 take the wind out of our sails.
The passionate support for Bafana Bafana was soon translated to "BaGhana BaGhana" when our boys were pipped very early in the competition. The tournament presented us with a unique opportunity ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]