Prologue

In a compelling analysis of identity and nationhood in post-apartheid South Africa published shortly after the country’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South African sociologist Neville Alexander provocatively posed the question whether the country’s recent political trajectories suggest that ‘a new historical community’ is being fashioned – one in which the racial divisions of the apartheid past have been fully transcended, the liberation ideals of class and other equalities have been attained, and a cohesive, national South African identity prevails. ¹ Certainly, the FIFA World Cup appeared to be the occasion for just that: media images beamed across the world showed South Africans from all racial, ethnic and class backgrounds collectively and proudly displaying the national flag, blowing the ubiquitous ‘vuvuzela’ and stoically supporting the national team, Bafana Bafana. Media portrayals reinforced a government rhetoric that underlined the unity and modernity of post-apartheid South Africa. From the perspective of the government, certainly, the World Cup represented the pinnacle of the achievements of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ after 1994.