Heard on the streets of Cape Town this evening: ‘We Won The French, We Won The French… "And so we had :-). Perhaps Bafana Bafana had read the letter that Cape Town Executive Mayor, Dan Plato, wrote on behalf of the People of Cape Town to ‘Bafana Bafana, our National Heroes’.

‘Please know that the Mother City is fully behind you. We are so proud of who you are, what you have done, what you stand for and how you have united our city and our country. You are our champions! Let Bafana Bafana be as solid as Table Mountain. Let your performance be as historic as Robben Island May you feel the force of our South Easterly winds and the surge of our Cape of Storms’ waves. May the inspirational words from Nelson Mandela from our City Hall balcony inspire and lift you. We send you our Cape Town GEES. Go Bafana!!’

And so it was that tears of joy flowed at all the Fan Jols, the FIFA Fan Fest™, and probably every pub and living room today as Bafana Bafana beat the French team. Strangers hugged and vuvuzelas were blown amid a sea of yellow and green clad supporters, while the French supporters looked on stonily.

There had been only one thing on Capetonians' minds all day on Tuesday – Bafana Bafana's crucial clash against France in Bloemfontein.

Many heeded a national Football Tuesday campaign to wear yellow and wave the national flag to support the team, and the streets of Cape Town were a rainbow of South African colours.

Many employers let their staff off early to watch the game, and the FIFA Fan Fest™ on the Grand Parade soon filled to capacity, with many making the most of the beautiful sunny afternoon compared to the previous day's rain.

However, those who couldn't make it inside managed to watch or listen to the game nearby, and many venues were full of Bafana supporters. The entire city seemed to erupt when Katlego Mphela and Bongani Khumalo scored for Bafana in the first half.
Among those watching outside the Fan Fest™ was Rayganah Samuels, 13, who said she was disappointed she didn't get in, but was still able to see the game on the giant screen.

Ricardo Josia, 19, from Elsies River, was also outside. ‘I came into the city to experience the whole vibe thing, so even if I'm not inside, it's still great out here. See all these people around me, we're all enjoying it.’
That's what Patience Lebatlange and Sam Ganyaza were doing. ‘It's good to be here, we are getting the oomph,’ she said.

The atmosphere seemed to quieten down as France scored a goal and it became evident that Bafana would not score enough goals to prevent them being knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

But afterwards, many were still blowing their vuvuzelas and supporting the team. ‘We were on a high, then we fell asleep,’ said John Rangoli. ‘But at least we did win a game and went out with our heads held high."
Another Bafana supporter was more enthusiastic. ‘South Africa performed wonders, to win against France of all teams,’ said Eloka Onwujekwe. ‘Now I'm praying that Nigeria will win the World Cup™, which will really be a first for Africa.’

So while the afternoon's proceedings had begun with trepidation, they ended with elation as South Africa made history. Each of the tens of thousands of fans in Cape Town, and the millions of fans in the country all knew that South Africa had redefined its potential, both as a team and a nation.

Jumping at the jols

At Vygieskraal and Swartklip Fan Jols earlier today, hundreds of children from nearby areas queued for jumping castles, played five-a-side football, and generally, er... had a ball.

‘I don’t know what I would have done without the holiday activities,’ said Nazli Isaacs, whose 6- and 8-year-olds had participated in the games today. ‘There’s only so long the kids can stay at home before they jump out of their skins,’ she pointed out.

The five-a-side games are part of one of the City’s legacy projects, co-ordinated by Donny Jurgens, Manager, Specialised Operations Sport, together with faith-based, community and civil society volunteer organisations in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.

Children from the age of 6, with their caregivers, and young teens, participate eagerly, while the volunteers get experience in writing up project reports based on the day’s events.

The Bellville Velodrome Fan Jol began filling up from 11:00. LTD Drumming had the crowd spellbound with their amazing drumming skills. They were followed by Thandi Arts Academy from Gugulethu, which showcased the talents of nine group members ranging between 14 and 20, who played the marimbas, sand and performed a mix of contemporary, ballet and African dancing. New Holland, a local indie rock band, ended the evening's performance.

The Final Whistle team spoke to Pierre Jovim, a French national from Paris, who is in Cape Town on holiday with his partner and two young children. He said that he had decided to watch the game at the Bellville Velodrome as he was staying at a guest house nearby and wanted to experience the excitement with local soccer supporters. He plans to spend the next two weeks in Cape Town and will definitely attend the fan jol when Freshlyground perform.

At the Oliver Tambo Fan Jol, there was yet again a fantastic turnout of fans who had come to give Bafana Bafana their support. The venue was alive with energy, and when the team scored the first goal, joyful shouts could be heard for many miles. The second goal was greeted with just as much enthusiasm as hope began to rise that the team might make it into the second round. France's goal was quietly received, and fans left the match generally happy that Bafana Bafana had restored their pride.

You’re still welcome in Cape Town – and thanks for staying for so long

Although Cape Town hasn’t had the vast numbers of tourists we were led to believe would come our way, the good news is that those who have visited our city have stayed for longer, and spent more money, than predicted…

Budget hotel accommodation figures are significantly up, and informal traders are doing good business. At the far end of the scale is the luxurious Waterfront resort, The One&Only Cape Town, and the Final Whistle team was lucky enough to interview General Manager Tony Romer-Lee, who had the following to say: ‘Bookings have ended up being very good, despite MATCH Services cancelling a lot of advance bookings. Fortunately we’re enjoying a lot of last-minute pick-up bookings too.’

When asked what the guests were enjoying most, Romer-Lee responded, ‘At the One&Only it’s our location, the international celebrity restaurants and the buzz! They’re extremely complimentary about Cape Town’s natural beauty, and that of the Waterfront, but the pièce de résistance is, without a doubt, the Cape Town Stadium.
‘We’ve done some special things to celebrate the soccer, such as creating some rather special cocktails, installing TVs in the Vista bar and hosting some extremely successful special occasions such as the Kickoff & US Consulate parties.’

‘Of course I’m not at liberty to disclose the celebrities, heads of state, actors and soccer stars that we’ve hosted but you may enjoy seeing who you recognise from the photographs on our [OneOnly-Cape-Town] Facebook page!’

We also took the opportunity of interviewing Daniela Bonanno, the Luxury Travel Manager of Africa for Absolute Travel, for an agent’s perspective on 2010.

‘I had about 10 very large family bookings from the United States, Mexico and Venezuela. My clients are thoroughly enjoying the scenery, the cuisine and South African wines. They’re raving about the restaurants NOBU, La Colombe, The Roundhouse and The Grand on the Beach in particular and are buying vuvuzelas and Jabulani balls to take home as gifts.’

When asked about the extent of service she offered Bonanno described it as, ‘Everything I do is customised according to the client’s request. The Mexicans are following their team throughout the country. The rest of the guests are either based in one of the host cities and then travelling to the games in the other cities.
‘They’re all going on safari in conjunction with their time at the stadiums! I’d calculate that they’re spending an average of between US$500 and US$700 per person, per day, during their stay in South Africa. I’m in contact with all of them and they’re all very, very happy and think the atmosphere is great, and are so enjoying the live matches!’

Where’s the jol?

Remember that the City has four fan jols, which are open from 11:00 – 23:00 on all Cape Town match days, Bafana Bafana match days, as well as for the quarterfinals, semi-finals and final game days.

• The Bellville Velodrome Fan Jol is situated in Carl Cronje Drive, Bellville and has a capacity of 6 000
• The Swartklip Fan Jol is situated at the Swartklip Sports Complex on the corner of Tafelberg and Spine Roads in Mitchells Plain. It has an internal capacity of 850, and an external capacity of 5 000. Both areas have giant screens on which to catch all the action
• The Oliver Tambo Fan Jol is situated at the OR Tambo Sports Centre, corner of Mew Way and Lansdowne Road, Khayelitsha and has a combined indoor and outdoor capacity of 4 000
• The Vygieskraal Fan Jol is situated in Johnston Road, Athlone and has a capacity of 2 500 on the grandstand and 5 000 – 7 500 on the field
  

There is a host of entertainment at the fan jols and food and drinks are available. The fan jols make for an enjoyable evening for the whole family and entrance is free.

Take a look at Wednesday and Thursday’s entertainment highlights below, or check the Fan Jol and Fan Fest sections of this website for further details.

Wednesday 23 June:

• FIFA Fan Fest™: iQqulah; Azania with String Quartet + McGinty

Thursday 24 June:

• Vygieskraal: Nisa Abrahams
• Bellville Velodrome: Children’s entertainment includes five-a-side soccer, face-painting and magic performances (at the start of the day). Live performances to look forward to include The Rudimentals, Kurt Schoonraad, Nqaba Mafilika Kwaito and the very popular Soccer Mania dancers. The most popular group so far has been Goldfish, which drew a 8 000-strong crowd. Freshlyground is due to perform on Tuesday 29 June, and Karen Zoid on Saturday 3 July. Taxis are available from the Bellville Velodrome entrance at 22:30.