It was a little more than 11 years ago and the world was in the paralysing grip of a sporting event that seemed to have brought the entire globe to a standstill.
Fifa’s multibillion-dollar travelling circus was in town and this little corner of the universe was the choice destination for some of the world’s best players, visiting fans, media and international professional leeches.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime party, unprecedented in this part of the world, and South Africans had a jol. Not even the embarrassment of watching Bafana Bafana earn the ignominious distinction of becoming the first World Cup hosts to crash out in the group stages put a damper on the party.
South Africans did not dwell too much on the humiliation, and after dusting off the shame of it all, they picked themselves up and kept the party moving.
Now, the popular practice in my circle during World Cups is to support Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany or anyone playing against England after the African contingent has crashed out.
But in 2010 it seemed an African side could go all the way, especially with the tournament being played on this continent. So after Bafana crashed out, South Africans switched their allegiance to Ghana.
The choice was decided for them because the Ghanaians were the only side from the continent to make it to the Round of 16 after Bafana, Nigeria, Algeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon all crashed out in the group stages.
Seemingly delirious
It was heartbreaking — the only time Africa had six representatives and just one managed to get out of the main stage.
Anyway, Ghana looked very comfortable in the tournament and some seemingly delirious South Africans got it into their heads to rename the West Africans BaGhana BaGhana. Ay caramba! The name still makes me cringe.
Ghana eventually exited the tournament after Luis Suarez committed a deliberate handball to stop a shot that was headed to the back of the net in injury time. Suarez was sent off but Uruguay progressed to the semifinals after Ghana missed the resulting penalty and, eventually went home on penalties after extra time.
Suarez was cast in the role of a villain on the continent and was never forgiven for the crime even by South Africans, until a few days ago. The days of BaGhana BaGhana are receding further into the rear-view mirror with each passing day as tension between former BFFs SA and Ghana continue to simmer.
Things have not been the same since Safa challenged the result of Bafana Bafana’s 0-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Ghana in Cape Coast on November 14.
Action taken
Safa had suspected the match may have been fixed and asked Fifa to investigate Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye, who awarded a match-winning penalty and made numerous other questionable decisions that benefited the West Africans.
Safa wanted the game to be replayed at a neutral venue and for action to be taken against Ndiaye and his colleagues, Samba Elhadji Malick (first assistant), Camara Djibril (second assistant) and Gueye Daouda (fourth referee).
But Fifa dismissed Safa’s complaint a few days ago. There have been a series of unsavoury comments purported to be coming from Ghana officials in the past few days.
Relations have become so bad that I’m told when Safa and their Ghana counterpart met in Cairo at the Caf general assembly last week, they elected not to engage as they have usually done in the past.
It is an unfortunate situation that should have been better handled. Ndiaye must be watching all this from a distance and laughing his head off because for some crazy reason, the main perpetrator has suddenly been forgotten while the two soccer bodies slug it out.
Fifa may have dismissed the complaint but the referee was undoubtedly appalling. He is the architect of this mess and it looks like he may just get away with it scot-free.
Perhaps the impasse between the two nations was best summed up by one Bafana supporter who responded to the link of a story I had posted on social media by saying he is so over Ghana that he is even forgiving Suarez. Ouch!
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