South Africa in spotlight

Most Americans might not agree, but soccer is the world's game, played and watched by more people than any other sport. Given that, it follows that the World Cup, the game's month-long international showcase that begins Friday in South Africa, is the most highly anticipated athletic event of the year. Playing host to the World Cup is a coup for any nation, particularly one that hopes to burnish its international image. South Africa is a case in point.

South Africa, to put in mildly, once was an international pariah. Its vicious apartheid form of government systematically exalted whites and brutalized blacks. The white minority rule that supported apartheid ended nearly two decades ago. The black majority rule established then in large part by Nelson Mandela continues to govern South Africa. The nation's leaders, who have invested about $3 billion in World Cup-related endeavors, clearly hope that a successful event Cup will showcase South Africa's transition from international outcast to upright member of the global community. Success of that mission is not guaranteed.

To be sure, there is much to praise about South Africa. It has a firmly established democratic government. Four national elections since the end of apartheid attest to that. A unique truth-and-reconciliation process allowed both blacks and whites to publicly recount their experiences under apartheid and, if necessary, to seek forgiveness for their actions during the period. Much of the testimony was wrenching, but most South Africans now agree that the nation is the stronger for having heard it.

Moreover, an independent, multiracial and multiethnic judiciary and a free press have been established. Neither was present under the old regime. Still, South Africa has societal problems that are so significant that it is difficult to overlook them -- especially in the hothouse environment of the World Cup..

The country, more than ever, is a nation of haves and have-nots. Many experts say the gap between the poor -- mostly blacks -- and the wealthy -- mostly whites -- in South Africa is one of the widest in the world. The disparity has spawned increasing racial tensions, growing political dissension and a crime problem that have drawn international attention of the type that no nation covets.

South Africa will have to live with both the positives and negatives of the current situation. Its people and government, for the most part, understand that the transition from deeply divided apartheid society to a more inclusive and racially and economically fairer one remains a work in progress.

Their understandable hope is that the extensive coverage that accompanies the World Cup ultimately will prove, in the main, to be beneficial rather than harmful to the nation's internal and external images. Whether that occurs won't be known until the games conclude on July 11.

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