How I became a fan of the South African national soccer team

torsdag den 18. november 2010

This week I watched the friendly match US vs. Bafana Bafana (The South African national soccer team) in the Green Point stadium of Cape Town. The stadium was recently built for the Soccer World Cup. All together, I only watched two matches of the World Cup on the television, and I didn’t watch a single game of Bafana Bafana. Despite of my lack of commitment to the World Cup matches, I enjoyed the live soccer atmosphere in the Green Point stadium and the fact that I got to see the national soccer team of the country I am currently privileged to get to experience during my short stay. So how come I am now a fan of the Bafana Bafana soccer team? I must admit that it does not have much to do with their abilities on the soccer field.….

One of my first days in this city I heard of an interesting project of a church in Cape Town. The church gathers men of different congregations to discuss issues concerning masculinity and what it means to be a man in South Africa today. The purpose is to raise awareness on healthy relationships between men and women, including issues of domestic violence, responsibilities towards the family, etc.

South Africa is known to be a patriarchic society and suppression of women is materialized in the high levels of domestic violence, rape, etc. The South African rates of gender-based violence, including rates of domestic violence and rape, are the highest in the world. In South Africa every 6 hours a women is killed by her intimate partner.

At present time there are many initiatives on women’s rights in South Africa both at civil society level and at government level. A campaign called ‘16 Days of Activism against gender violence’ will be taking place nation-wide starting on 25 November. The effort for women’s empowerment and improvement of their rights in the South African society are extremely necessary but hearing about the men’s project, made me wonder, if more initiatives focusing on (redefining) men’s identities are out there.

Recently I learned about “The Brothers for Life”- a national South African campaign. The campaign aims at changing men’s perceptions of what it means to be a “real man” in South Africa. Famous South African men, including the South African Rugby team, are ambassadors, called “Brothers of Live”, of the campaign. The campaign speaks against violence against women, unsafe sex, multiple sexual partners, men’s lack of commitment to their families, etc. The objective is that the Brothers for Life can be positive role models to their fellow male countrymen. A famous rugby player who is a Brother for Life says:

“I want to get across the message that doing these things - getting drunk, sleeping around - is not macho. I think it's more macho to act responsibly and respect women”.

Another Brother of Life says:

“It is a campaign to dispel the notion that women are not equal. We have grown up in a male-dominated society where women have been portrayed as subservient. As young men we can lead this change through our actions.”

The question is of course how effective a campaign like this is. I would assume that more personal face to face discussion like the men’s project in the church would be necessary if men with mindsets that oppress women are to be motivated and held accountable in process of change towards a mindset of respect and equality between the sexes. That said I fully support the Brothers of Life campaign, as issues of gender inequality are complex and therefore must be addressed through multiple methods.

The day after the Bafana Bafana vs. US match I realized that there are also Bafana Bafana players among the Brothers for Life. The soccer players’ effort outside the field, and not their soccer match in the Green Point stadium, convinced me that Bafana Bafana is worth cheering for. Meanwhile I hope more initiatives that focus on men will come up, as I don’t believe that violence against women and other manifestations of inequality can be overcome without an increased focus on men’s identities in South Africa.

Bafana Bafana. Olé!