I have been engaging with a friend of mine about South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup spectacle. She has been of the strong view that hosting the world cup is not in the best interest of the country and is a wrong prioritisation. She strongly believes that South Africa has enough socio-economic challenges that should occupy our top list or priorities. She is correct!

Our Gini Coefficient is one of the highest, if not the highest in the world. Instead of pushing back the frontiers of poverty they have extended their frontiers. According to renowned economist Mike Schussler South Africa has more people in the welfare than workers. Something is horribly wrong!
I however, still believe that hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup was one the best decisions that South Africa has taken post 1994. It has both direct and indirect socio-economic benefits. Perhaps we need to move beyond looking at the immediate direct benefits. Socio-economic challenges will be with us for sometime to come, however we need to look at various ways of addressing them. The socio-economic challenge is the elephant that we need to tackle and eat. World cup is one of tactics to tackle our elephant.
Indirect long term benefits

The 2010 Soccer World Cup has achieved two critical indirect long term benefits; namely: it spurred self belief and social cohesion.
Self Belief
The legacy of colonialism and apartheid has emotionally scarred us as people. It has left an inferiority complex that many amongst us always ask the question what is wrong with us? What is wrong with blacks? What is wrong with Africa? We have come to subconsciously believe that although we “might” be equal with people of developed world we are not really equal. Something is amiss with us. This belief has eroded our self esteem and belief. It has instilled subconscious inferiority complex and we are vigorously at the denial stage. Our external posturing posits people with self belief but our internal posturing say otherwise. The successful hosting of the world cup has shaken self-doubt and inferiority complex foundations. It has posed issues if we hosted the world cup we can do anything? If “people of the world” can stay in our facilities and use them then we can do more. This world cup has shaken our subconscious psychosis of inferiority complex. We have set a new belief system to our youth and new generation. We have raised the bar. The problem with this benefit is that it is intangible but with tangible consequences.
Social cohesion

South Africa emerged in 1994 from a bitter and divided past. This has lingered on until now. Mamphele Ramphele calls this a ghost from our past. The 2010 soccer world cup has forged a spirit of patriotism and South Africanness like never before. Watching South Africans across the colour spectrum alike, like cladding in Bafana Bafana T-shirts was one of the highlights of the world cup. Even though Bafana Bafana underperformed in the field of the play, still South Africans rallied behind them. The world cup serves as a catalyst to build social cohesion and what is left now is for us to piggy back on the momentum it has built. Successful hosting has forged a new identity for South Africa, an identity of people who rise above any occasion. South Africa can rise above its socio-economic challenge! The challenge to us though is how do we take this forward?
Direct benefits

The world cup did not slow the progress of government plans rather it has spurred most of them. Indeed resources might have been spent on the world cup instead of other programmes but the resources spent on the world cup were for investment and not consumption. This should comfort us instead of dismaying us. It is better for a country to balance investment and consumption. The rewards of this investment become an input in other

sectors of the economy. Thanks to the world cup:

• Police visibility has tremendously increased and this boosts police and community morale; capacity has increased in terms of both quality and quantity. More people were employed.
• Swift justice was piloted with real life cases giving us lessons that we can use when it is rolled out;
• Awareness education programmes run to teach people about world cup will continue with other topics, e.g. Kha ri gude literacy project aimed to reduce illiteracy amongst the adults;
• Rewritten history that shows that Africans can do it – are able;
• Rural development was spurred with some of the network infrastructure improvement development;
• Tourism and its service sector received huge impetus to significantly contribute in the economy;
• Network infrastructure (ICT, roads, air and water) received major boost;
• The South African brand has gained beyond imagination;
• SABC infrastructure and facilities will benefit the public who can afford privatised media;
• Created short term jobs which imparted lifelong skills;
• Health facilities around the cities were improved and this will relieve urban health facilities under strain because of huge population;
• Metro’s technology infrastructure received short in the arm;
• Home Affairs turn around times improved;
In a nutshell these are some of the direct benefits and there are many more. God works with nothing to make something. If He enabled us to achieve this success what could make Him not to, with regard to socio-economic challenges. World cup is a catalysts and means to an end.
Conclusion
The world cup does not lessen and/or slow government programmes rather it has given us:
• Self-belief;
• Spurred social cohesion;
• Economic base to launch new growth path; and
• Base to build national planning commission and long term vision.

It proved that Africans given the opportunity, are as capable as anyone but they should be their own liberators, developers and deliverers. Africans we are on our own. It however reinforced the view that there is widening gap between the “haves” (who luxuriously attended games); the “have-late” (who attended some games) and “have-nots” who watched and supported form afar. It beckons on us to expeditiously implement national planning commission and new growth path. I know I cannot convince my friend but the truth is life is about choices and about how we respond to the questions it poses. We need to build on this success! Perhaps the immediate thing to do is to focus on 2014 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the progress toward attaining that whilst national planning commission is crafting long term view. Remember we are South Africans we can rise above any occasion.

The headline by its self has got a life time message in it, but for those who probably think there are special people who are marked from birth to be successful regardless of challenges and you feel you are not part of that group because of the things you went through or maybe you are still in a mess. Let me show you something, my life is a testimony and here is how it happened to me:

I was born in a small village: Makgwedi Village, a rural village of Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga Province and I was raised by my great grandmother who knew nothing about the interests of young people all she cared about was we should work and eat nothing more or less. Going to school was an activity that should take place before I go and work in one of the farms.

My only dream was to be a taxi driver because then they appeared to be moneyed or to become a teacher or even a police man for those were the career paths that I was exposed to. I grew up naughty and under privileged but who cared. Later my mother divorced and she came home to join us (me and my great grandmother) and by profession my mother she is a nurse so life became better and she took me to a boarding school and that’s where I received Christ as my personal savior and I made friends with a lot of people and our school pastor was Amos Mbiza. Now thus far people think I had it cool but no, I failed my matric 1999 and I repeated 2000 (this happened at Orhovelani High School) and I failed again for the second time and at this level I was having more meaningful dreams and what hurts is I saw those dreams going down the drain and I never liked to work in a farm or in a supermarket as a cashier or having a just enough salary . I always saw myself big, having big houses and driving big cars but at this stage I was frustrated for all friends made it to tertiary and I was the only one left behind.

December 2000, I had one on one with my mother and she gave me that mother lecture with love because she saw my frustration and she feared that I might commit suicide and she tried to encourage me to go to Technical College (do hands work programs) by discouraging me to give up trying matric for the third time; my response was mom, I am going to repeat matric for the third time at Maripe High School the following year 2001.
She begged me to at least give up Mathematics, Physical Science and Biology and try commerce and I told her no I am going to do those subjects (Maths, Physical Science and Biology) and I will pass. Guess what? Come 2001 I did all the subjects that my mother said I shouldn’t do and I passed all with Maths and English being the best student at Maripe High School. Though it was not a free flow because all students knew that I was repeating for the third time and of course they made fun of me and I endured the pain for that single year. I went to Technikon Northern Gauteng (TNG) now known as Tshwane University of Technology Soshanguve Campus to study Information Technology (Software Development) upon completion I became an assistant lecturer and with the feedback from my students I was not an average lecturer in fact majority of students preferred me more than any other lecturer. I struggled to get a company where I could do my practical’s for it was part of my modules in order to complete my diploma; at last I graduated and still I struggled to get an IT related job but I didn’t lose faith and I finally joined a learnership (Software Testing Training) at Test and Data Services where I became the top software tester 2008.

I was a ACDP Youth Foundation (ACDPYF) National Policy Coordinator (2007/08) and I am currently ACDPYF National Chairman (2008/09) and all these didn’t add up in one day and I was not connected to people who knew people but it’s because I failed at some point and I didn’t like it and from that day I purposed in my heart not to give up, for many are the times where we all fail and are quick to give up but the truth is ...yes, we all fail but we don’t all give up and that’s key…If you want to make it in life please don’t give up keep pressing.

The secret is: Before you attempt anything, you need to plan your things properly and when you fail you will know why you failed and you focus on that. Most of us do things without proper calculation of the opportunity at times you will succeed and in most cases you will fail but the frustration is when you fail and you won’t know why even if you try hard you will still fail, and as a result you will start blaming your friends and family plus strangers and witches but the premise is you need to plan. Planning will help you track your success and failure; you will know why you succeeded or why you failed.

Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.

"Look at each day as a chance to invest life into life. A chance to share your experience and deposit it into someone else's conscience. Each day is a chance to work miracles in the lives of others."

I was born in the 80s in Katlehong.
I’m the 1st born on my mom’s side and 4th born at my dad’s side. My dad got married to another woman and had three boys by her and my mom got married to another man and one girl by him. I have 4 brothers (by my dad) and 2 sisters (one form dad and one form mom). I was never really close to my mom as a young girl; my grandmother was a mother to me.
I went on to stay with my uncle at the age 8 to attend the school near by. My uncle’s daughter (cousin) was very abusive towards me for 3 full years up until my dad took me to stay with him & my step mom (the happiest day of my life…..so I thought !!). I was 11 by then and had to change schools again not knowing that the worst is yet still to come!!!
I loved my step mom very much but she too became abusive to me as time past. At the age of 13 I knew everything there is to know about house duties, from cooking, baking, cleaning, washing & more, you name it - I knew it all!!

High school came and the abuse from step mom got worse . I spoke to my biological mom and dad about how unhappy I was but nothing happened. In grade 10 I was doing very badly at school because I had no time for my school work. When I got back from school I had to do the washing, clean the house and then cook – by the time I was done at night I was tired and exhausted and had no time to study or do my home works. Eventually I got sick of my life and that’s when I tried committing suicide (a very bad move I know) I was in the hospital in comma for about a month. That’s when my mom took me back and by the miracle of God I did well and even passed grade 10 on that same year .
Life was good there after. I finished my high school without even one visit to my dad’s place but because I’m very close with my brothers, we made plans to meet and I saw each other on regular bases.

I went to tertiary and later became pregnant with my son by the man I dated for 3 years before. You’d think the abuse trauma was over…. but not in my life. My son’s dad turned from being this prince to an unspoken monster! 5 years of a beautiful relationship turned sour just like that. The man started abusing me emotionally, after a year the physical abuse part started - he physically hit me the 1st time and I forgave him. He did it again after some months later but this time I’ve had enough. I moved on with my life without him and I was free after years of abuse from him.

Opportunities opened , I got a better job and now I’m as independent as it gets – doing it for me & my son.
I have an omnipresent God who had me, no matter what I go through in life I’m not afraid because I know that God is there and I know that he values me and he loves me, for all the battles I’ve conquered…for all the tears I’ve shed…for all the negative words that short me down…for all the pain I’ve over come and for the growth I’ve sustained. It’s all by grace of Jehovah that I made it, through hell and back. I survived!!

In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair.

Family life is full of major and minor crises -- the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce -- and all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories. With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul.

I was raised with that mentality that hard work pays and with that in my veins I worked
hard to be where I am today. I am luckier that I got married to a hard working husband that made things to be easier for bought of us as we where supporting each other all the way and we still do that. I have completed my doctorate in geography and currently working at Maputo counsellor from 7 to 3:30 and after work I have to go straight to my husband’s work, as he runs a theatre called T.S group Gungu.

There is no resting, as I am the production manger in our theatre I have to make sure that every thing runs smoothly. All of this didn’t come by fortune. I and my husband had dreams like all, but our approach to our dreams was different because all of our strength comes from our family advises as they say” an empty mind is not a good life adviser”. As I have said before, there is no resting we are also running an advertising agency for our local TV stations and we also run a night club which is a new thing for us.

There this thing that keeps us fixed in business and keeps us going, which is a good strategy or I can say mentality. Only if all can learn how to over see this or do it in a better way, they will never go hungry again. I am referring to what we call investment plan; we invest every cent we get on assets like houses meaning we buy properties and sell them again for profit and with that profit we make another profit on and on.
The hardest time I had in life it was when my husband had a heart attack, all had to stop meaning the business and so on. I had to keep an eye on him as we had to fly to South Africa for better medication. Thanks God that he became better and back to the road again as business needed bought of us.

In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.

For 5 years I was working in Botswana selling pictures of the big 5 animals for this guy in Harare and I went back again to Harare for 2 years still selling. I was doing all of this for my family, as they wanted food on the table.

Business became slow and we stopped selling for 2 months, that was my turn to start my own business as a sales man again. I had to improve what I was previous selling so I started to selling the same thing but with different pictures. I had to come up with some thing different that many they don’t think off. As my brother was an artist I hard to learn how to draw but my learning was different because I was enjoying watching him drawing as he would ask me to try or help him and the only thing I could say is no I just love watching you painting.

It was after 2 years that I wanted to learn how to paint my own pictures with his style. He then though me how to draw, I remember my first drawing he said to me it looks like it has been than by a professional painter. With those words I was blessed and started to sell in Harare again and moved to Cape Town (South Africa) and came back to Zimbabwe. As I hard I dream to travel around the world, I then moved to Mozambique where by business became so good for me as I was selling 500 pictures per 2 months. I then decided to make Maputo my hot spot as I had clients calling from Botswana, South Africa and Harare.

Remember that I am doing this all alone I am the suppler and the manufacture of this paints, my future plan is to open a shop, a painting shop in Maputo as there is nothing stopping me to do that but the rent. My wish is to employ 2 other people as my business expands I can no longer carry 5oo paints ,the demand is getting higher-he-he. They like my new style it is different.