The 2007 World Cup preliminary draw was as glamorous an event as any organised by FIFA anywhere in this or any decade. Held at Durban’s International Convention Centre, it was the first time the world media got a glimpse of South Africa’s preparations for the 2010 World Cup. The city’s sea front, conducive weather and unhurried nature (it’s everything Johannesburg is not), set the stage for a ceremony to remember. And succeed it did without glitches.

Africa Media Online's Reinhardt Hartzenberg snapped this image of people playing soccer at Durban's beachfront, with the Moses Mabhida Stadium visible in the background.

As a first time visitor, I had heard so much about gun crime and the dangerous streets in the country. I was not sure whether I could feel safe. I frequently looked over both shoulders to be sure no one was tracking me, moved swiftly and entered my hotel room before 7pm. Today, when I recall my trip to the land of Nelson Mandela in that late November, I can’t help but see how foolish I was.
By the end of the trip, I had experienced the beautiful Ushaka Marine World, visited the Moses Mabhida stadium under construction and felt the treat of Africa’s busiest port. On the eve of the draw, I even got the chance to watch the world famous Soweto derby at ABSA stadium. Durban and South Africa were not what I expected. My six days there were incident-free and I returned to Uganda in one piece.
Which constantly kept me thinking: why has there been a sustained campaign to undermine South Africa 2010 in sections of the Western press? Mid this year, I attended virtually all matches of the Confederations Cup. I experienced Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Rustenburg and saw scant reason for trepidation ahead of the tournament.
It reminded of the Beijing Olympics in China last year. For those out of the People’s Republic, the Olympics were going to be a nightmare. We were told the pollution was prohibitive and the country’s human rights policy towards Tibet was unacceptable. When I travelled to Beijing in May, I saw nothing to distract from a successful Olympics. Fast forward now and everyone associates the Games with the heroics of Usian Bolt, Kenenisa Bekele and China’s medal rivalry with traditional powerhouse USA. There is no mention of pollution.
There is no denying that South Africa’s progress to 2010 has not been without glitches. But because it is Africa’s first World Cup, a strike by workers is deemed unprecedented. When a death (and I’m not in any way attempting to condone crime) is committed in Johannesburg, the excessive tone in coverage makes you think it’s never happened in Berlin, London or New York.  When the African crowds introduce the unique vuvuzela horn into stadiums, there is an outcry, apparently because ‘it irritates ears.’ Give me a break!
When the final is played on July 11 in Soccer City, the news will deservedly be made by the teams that contest the final. The everlasting legacy though will be of a successful African World Cup, which changed the Western perception of South Africa and the continent of Africa as Mandela so wished.
I can’t wait.

The effect of new technologies on the African media landscape remains ambiguous. Powerful and radical, undoubtedly, but will they be able to bring in much-needed revenues to African media houses? The answer is a work in progress. Nobody was committing to an answer on that one.

The subject that more were hope-filled about is next year’s World Cup. Apart from Antarctica, Africa is the only continent that has never hosted either of the world’s two biggest sporting events, the Olympic Games and the World Cup. Journalists are of course a cynical bunch and are generally reluctant to get swept up into the hype, but there’s no denying that some of the pessimism about Africa’s readiness has to be swept away. Danny Jordaan, FIFA 2010 Local Organising Committee CEO, gave a fact-filled presentation aimed at converting the doubters, which is due to be uploaded at www.highwayafrica.com shortly.

The question of whether the stadia will be ready on time is now quite a tired one. Certainly the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth looked to me pretty ready: down to the red leather seats already installed for the outdoor VIP section, and the seemingly perfect pitch almost glowing in the dark.

View from the VIP outdoor seating area - probably the only time I'll get to be there!

The key figures, to my mind, are the number of people who will be watching (an estimated 30 billion people) and the media professionals who will be attending (15 000). These journalists will be creating not just column inches – more like column miles. Africa has never had such attention focussed on it. Despite the cynicism, it’s perhaps now the best time ever to be a part of the African media.

But we also need to act quickly to ensure we don’t get crowded out by the international media. “The fans want to see the team bus to the stadium, then they run to buy the ticket,” was Jordaan’s way of criticizing Africa’s slowness to take advantages of the opportunities available.