Keep your eyes on the ball
Once in a while we get to forget all our troubles associated with living in SA under this government and be transported into the alternate world where only excitement, unity and social cohesion exists.
We get to pretend to be one nation, the rainbow nation and ‘better together’.
This weekend, starting from tonight, everyone will be glued to their screens watching the drama of the Rugby World Cup semifinals unfold when the All Blacks take on Argentina and our beloved national team take on England.
Before we get to lock horns with England in rugby tomorrow night, the Proteas, that is the national men’s cricket team, led by Temba Bavuma, will look to bounce back against England in another World Cup, far away in India.
If you didn’t know by now, there is nothing that gets the nation galvanised more than sport. I am sure many of you are busy making plans to organise get togethers so you can watch the game among friends.
Sport is part of who we are as a nation and it defines us. Sport helps to shape how we see ourselves.
Sport shapes the character of the young people who take part in it and helps them to function in a group environment, which is what life in a community actually is.
It simulates all what you will experience in life, it fosters discipline, team work and obeying of rules.
You will never be successful in life if you do not obey the rules and respect authority and sport helps towards that, even though you are having fun in the process.
If you play football, you know that you cannot use your hands at any stage, unless you are a goalkeeper, and if you do, your whole team will suffer the consequences.
The more you adhere to the rules of the game, the more successful the team will be and if you constantly ignore and flout the rules, only disaster will result.
How people who break the laws of this country, steal, murder, rape and maim others think something bad will not happen to our society, beats me.
We tolerate a lot of bad behaviours as a society, people steal money and we treat them as celebrities and heroes and yet we are surprised when service delivery suffers.
We know the budget of the departments is not going where it is supposed to go and yet we turn a blind eye and even reward the thieves, instead of castigating them and throwing them to the wolves.
The thieves steal anything they can.
While we will be having a lot of fun this weekend, the thieves will be hard at work figuring out more ways to rob us blind.
As a nation, we dare not take our eyes off the ball lest we have no country to come back to after the games this weekend.
Good luck to Siya Kolisi and Temba Bavuma and their teams, #Mayibuye.