I eagerly anticipate 5pm – and smile. All I have to do is travel the 120 kms between Johannesburg and Pretoria to attend a meeting in Rietondale and then I am home free.

And so hitting the N1 highway, started another incredible journey. With a travelling speed of 120kph which has now been reduced to 80kpg due to road construction quickly dwindles down to a mere 40kphh.

As the temprature rises in the car so do the frustration levels, mine and other motorists. People change lanes hoping that the next one might be a little faster or have less obstruction, but soon we all give up, realising that this is going nowhere, slowly.

I switch off the aircon, open the window and switch on the radio. In no time Football Friday messages can be heard over the airwaves. South Africans are mobilising for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and companies and sponsors alike are running challenges, competitions and creating moments of pride.

I start to relax and look out the window at my fellow, and sister, motorists. For the first time I notice the beautiful colours of their various football shirts. Drivers and passengers, most are wearing a football shirt, Brazil, Spain and Portugal being among the favourites. Some local clubs like Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs also made the line-up.

Me, a great supporter of the underdog, I was sporting a Bafana Bafana jersey. At the toll gate I was met with a beaming smile and a heartfelt cheer. Our boys have done us proud by winning their international friendly game against Zimbabwe 3-1.

When I stopped at the petrol station to fill up, I was met with yet another vociferous chorus of Viva Bafana Bafana Viva! as petrol attendants smiled and waved.

And I smiled, no I grinned!

As here is another prime example of what it means to be a South African. We do not need huge events like final draws or visits from Argentinean coaches to show our patriotism. We wear our hearts on our sleeves anyway, by wearing our football jerseys on our backs.

I get in my car and I take the next offramp back on the highway, the traffic might be slow and going nowhere fast, but my spirit is soaring.

This gentle and cuddly giant is the one who had Brand South Africa staff eating from his palm. Or is that his paw?

Seven years ago, South Africa joined Brazil and India to form the G3, also known as Ibsa. Although its economy is by far the smallest of the three, the country’s influence within Africa gives South Africa disproportionate weight, making it an attractive partner for the Brics when they seek to exercise diplomatic muscle. That influence was visible late last year in Copenhagen when South Africa – alongside Brazil, India and China – took an active role in climate change negotiations, giving birth to the so-called Basic group…

“South Africa is becoming the corporate captain of Africa because it has more pan-African companies than any other country in Africa and this gives it a seat at the table of the Brics,” says Michael Power at Investec Asset Management in Cape Town…

For financial services groups, exchange controls and tight regulation meant the sector has emerged little scathed from the crisis and well placed to move forward. Last June, for example, FirstRand announced it would refocus activities on Africa and the region’s growing trade and investment links with India and China, agreeing a month later a strategic alliance with China Construction Bank. Like ICBC, CCB ranks among the big four Chinese banks…

South African managers are seen as less risk-averse than their counterparts in Europe and the US. The country’s ethnic diversity and tumultuous recent history means they also tend to be open to different cultures and less dogmatic about business methods. Companies have become adept at working with local partners, influencing the course of a venture even though they might not have total control…

Black economic empowerment, a policy introduced in the 1990s under which an elite of black managers was created and billions of dollars of corporate equity transferred to black business, has made South African companies more acceptable in Africa and other emerging markets. Companies have meanwhile acquired experience in selling their products to South Africa’s own emerging black middle class and low-income groups, arming them to operate in similar markets further afield. “South African business isn’t as afraid of Africa as its competitors. They know what does and does not work and I think proximity helps as well,” says Mr Power…

Back to Matt. It was just yesterday that I heard about Matt’s arrival in Cape Town. So who the hell is Matt? I hear you ask. Matt Harding! The deadbeat guy who has the greatest fun dancing all over the world! Before you think I’m throwing insults at the poor guy, read more about Matt and his adventures on his website. After reading his blog, you’ll agree that Matt genius and should be crowned as entrepreneur of the century.

Matt is in South Africa to perform the diski at various places in South Africa as part of South African Tourism’s initiative to promote the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The new clip will show the talented Matt doing the diski at Cape Point, Cape Town International Airport, on the Robben Island Ferry, Soweto, Mpumalanga (dancing with a lion or two) and various other places in our diverse country.

It’s my day off, but  I don my uniform anyway, dressed to impress as I venture onto Cape Town International Airport’s tarmac. I organise photographer – my friend and colleague Jo. Call the office to obtain the flight details. It’s confirmed – Matt and Melissa will be arriving on time.

Unfortunately Jo and I arrive late. Matt and the team are already set up in front of the super sleek South African Airways Airbus 340. He is going through the steps of the diski – the official 2010 FIFA World Cup dance. Melissa seems to have everything under control. She is the cinematographer, choreographer and project manager all rolled into one. Jo clicks away as she tries to capture all Matt’s moves but is momentarily distracted by the rare scene of a Buccaneer from Thunder city taxiing in from a flight. I don’t blame her. Any pilot would take a moment to admire that awesome machine.

Oops! Back to Matt: I bow my head in shame as I witness how Matt, right in Cape Town with the South African flag on the tail of the Airbus performs the diski. Me, a South African, I don’t have the hang of the diski yet. I watch Matt carefully and get into the beat. He practices the dance a few times before the final take and executes flawlessly. Now I know how to diski.

Come on! Do yourself a favour, get into the rhythm and learn to diski.

A special thanks to Goliath (ACSA Safety), Florence (SAA) and David DiGregorio, Manager of Marketing & Communications (USA) of South African Tourism and of cause Matt and Melissa for letting me hang around.

Photographs by Jocindy Mars.

“Team South Africa”, a partnership between business and government, aims to position South Africa at the forefront of investment conversation with the 2010 FIFA World Cup as part of the  focus. The team is represented by the South African Presidency, IMC and the Government Communication and Information Service as some of the government partners. Business is being represented by ABSA, Telkom, Nedbank and MTN just to mention a few.

President Jacob Zuma has been liaising eloquently with media since earlier today on issues surrounding investment, job opportunities and economic growth.

You don’t need to be at the edge of your seat, quickly find a passport and memorize the agenda. We’ll bring you the latest news on developments about South Africa at the WEF from twitter and right here.

“As you probably know,” he wrote, “the World Cup is scheduled for South Africa in June of this year. Many present and former residents see this as a potential recipe for disaster, and for good reason. Most would agree that three of the major venues, Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town are cities where lawless mobs run rampant and threaten both classes on a regular daily basis.” He went on to suggest that readers Google something called “the Johannesburg Times” to find articles substantiating this remarkable claim.

The response from the blogosphere and the twitterverse was swift and brutal, prompting the Huffington Post to do a most unusual thing. It removed Hoffman’s post from its site and replaced it with the above notice. Below is an example of the comment on Twitter, where Hoffman tweets under the moniker “firstwebcam”.

“retiefdv” is Retief de Villiers. “nausherrahman” is Nausher Rahman of Johannesburg, who describes his interests as digital media, politics and the blues.

South Africa has an international reputation as a nation of can-do people. Surprising then to find that the ordinary man on the street suffers from a no-it-can-never-be-done attitude.

We South Africans are gregarious by nature. We love a good story. In my opinion, we are the epitome of what a good host country should be, simply because of our natural, warm, friendly approach to life –an attitude that will stay with us long after the final whistle of the 2010 FIFA World Cup has blown.

But notice how when Sepp Blatter, the FIFA President, takes to the podium to reassure the world that South Africa is ready to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup,the murmurs start. A shake of the head followed by several more low murmurs; a whisper or two and in no time someone has expressed the no-it-can-never-be-done phrase.

Dr Nick Benedell from the Gordon Institute of Business Science calls it the five-minutes-to-midnight syndrome. It seems that South Africans have this innate belief that our post 1994 world will collapse at any moment. Some seem to have a that-tommorow-might-never-be-as-good-as-today, appraoch.

I happily challenge this view. Anyone who reviews South Africa’s recent history, will understand the atrocious crimes committed against humanity here, and the near impossible struggle for freedom which came about in 1994. How could anyone who has expereinced any form of apartheid, choose not to see the freedom and opportunity we enjoy today?

Then it dawned on me. South Africans are extraordinary citizens. We have never taken our freedom for granted. We have done more, we have protected this freedom in our Bill of Rights. We respect ourselves and our fellow countrymen. We honour  our Bill of Rights and realise that our peaceful transition is an achievement which will be revered by generations to come.

It is not that we do not understand how blessed we are as a nation. It is because of the recognition of the amazing challenges we have overcome that we view life in our unique, peculiar ways.

The ordinary South African it seems have taken a silent vow  never to be duped again, be it by government or civil society.

We have the ability to understand that in being honest and by accepting our challenges and our limitations that we actually move beyond them and become the extraordinary can-do nation that the world sees.

Our recent success includes the degree of protection we have had against the global recession. While the world has been hit very hard, South Africa to a degree has been safeguarded, due to our stringent financial regulations which prevented anyone from borrowing more money then they could afford to pay back. We are able to hold onto our homes during some very difficult times.

We live in a country where it is a fact that we will lose a third of our workforce to the devastation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the next few years and yet we are focusing on creating sustainable employment for all. We are still investing in the future leaders of tommorow, by publicly celebrating and commemorating our country’s top achievers, and encouraging thise who have fallen short to try again.

Our national football team remain non-celebrated heroes, but our love of the game has multiplied. We are opening our country, homes and hearts to the 2010 visitors, and have vowed to deliver a world class event.

To me it seems that this nation’s power does lie in the quintessential phrase no-it-can-never-be-done. Our freedom lies in the fact that we do not suffer from entitlement. We realise that there is a very real threat that tomorow-may-never-be-as-good-as-today, and that Prof Benedell may very well be right.   But then I hear the no-it-can-never-be-done phrase and I have hope.

So the next time you engage a South African in conversation and the no-it-can-never-be-done moment arrives, I urge you to pay careful attention. It might just be the conversation that leads to an AIDS vaccine or a cure for cancer.

After all this is a country which is Alive with Possibility.

When I first heard about You Make Joburg Great (YMJG) on Facebook, it struck me as an interesting and interactive concept. We took a moment to chat to Dean who is know as the brains behind it.

What inspired YMJG?

Several reasons really. While Cape Town and other international cities have several obvious assets that make them desirable destinations, Joburg falls a bit short. If you asked Joburg residents why they lived in Joburg or what made it great, the answers would be varied. Capetonians will tell anyone how beautiful their city is, New York owns the famous I ♥ NY but Joburgers don’t own anything to be proud of. We wanted to change that as while we couldn’t put our finger on it, we knew Joburg had to have something special, it’s the reason we all choose to live here. We searched for the reason and found the answer to be incredibly simple but amazing, the people.

When did you guys start?

We thought of the idea of You Make Joburg Great about 8 months ago but it took a bit of time to work out how to communicate it. We involved our entire agency (PenQuin International) and got cracking. The one thing we realized is – this needs to be communicated from one person to another. So we created cardboard signs, T-Shirts, email footers, banners, stickers, stamps and even changed our voicemails to say You Make Joburg Great and we took the iniative to every event we could think of in Joburg. The first was Joburg Day on 5th October where we took photos of members of the crowd holding the YMJG signs and were able to introduce the initiative to celebrities like Jeremy Mansfield who have since been hugely supportive. We also started the facebook group at that point where we posted all the photos we took from Joburg Day and all other events.

Where else is the community besides Facebook?

As the initiative is social in nature, social media is an obvious avenue for us. We are now have a facebook group with over 5000 members, a fan page with about 1300 fans, we have a stream on twitter under #ymjg, we have a blog and if you search for “You make Joburg Great” on youtube, we have a video of everything we have done so far. We also have a very strong community of people on the ground that have assisted at events and have given out 5000 T-Shirts to residents around Joburg.

What are you planning to do once you have built the community?

The communities need to own it. We didn’t do this for us, it’s for Joburg. We started the ball rolling for something that residents can own. Hopefully they do just that!

How can others get involved in this cause, as there are many other people whom I think want to support such a cause?

We encourage anyone who lives in, or just loves, Joburg to become an ambassador for YMJG. They can contact me on deano@penquin.co.za and come pick up t-shirts, stickers and signs and use them at events or around town. Alternatively, spread the love. Send the video to friends and colleagues or join the facebook fan page. Tell a few people they make Joburg Great!

Are you planning to venture out to other cities or collaborate with people elsewhere around the country to spread the idea?

To be honest, not really. Joburg is our home and it is the city we love. If we can change the international view of Joburg, the whole country will benefit.

In one sentence, what have you realized is the common thread that makes South Africans great since the launch of your cause?

We tend to overuse the word vibrant but that’s exactly what we are together with passionate, friendly and awesome!
You can find the ‘You Make Joburg Great’ facebook group here and also follow them on Twitter.