David Walker (Southboy)

David Walker reports directly from South Africa. Visit his website at: www.davidrwalker.co.za/

2010 World Cup – Thank you for having a burger!

2010 World Cup – Thank you for having a burger! Branding the World Cup: From Coca Cola to McDonalds… There is a great saying that the world is full of advertising. Nothing can be more to the point when it comes to an International Sporting Event like the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Branding the World Cup is a multi-million dollar ... Read More

World Cup Aftermath – Will South Africa suffer from a Greek Tragedy or maintain its potentially winning streak?

Like any huge event with a fantastic build-up, the 2010 World Cup has come and gone and South Africa as a host nation has suddenly felt the post-event vacuum. From the Football fever that gripped the nation to a swift realization that the daily grind is returning. In Durban in a matter of days, the city went back to being ... Read More

Ministers of Safety and Security, how prepared is South Africa?

So $2000 is stolen from the plush Johannesburg hotel rooms of the visiting Colombian football squad last week ahead of a warm-up tournament between Colombia and South Africa on the weekend. The dangers of arriving in Johannesburg from Bogota and thinking your valuables are safe. Besides the obvious security tips for foreigners arriving in SA including keeping one’s valuables secure, ... Read More

How the World Cup has encouraged patriotism in South Africa – Fly the Flag Campaign and show support!

By David R. Walker (Southboy) Fly the Flag campaign originally launched in April 2009, whilst gathering momentum has exploded in a brash and colourful fashion in South Africa as the opening game of the World Cup was played at Soccer City in Johannesburg between South Africa and Mexico on Friday 11th June 2010. In a country once divided and thought ... Read More

Global disasters –Wings of a Butterfly – is 2012 becoming true?

When the Hollywood disaster film 2012 was being advertised in late 2009, I remember joking and mentioning to a friend that if the world comes to an end in 2012 that would be very inconvenient especially as it’s the year I turn 40! Life was supposed to begin at 40 not the world coming to an end. While the film ... Read More

Espana triumph in Egoli – the World Cup closes on a brilliant note!

A spectacular and glitzy 30 minute World Cup closing ceremony featuring a brief history of South African dance from gumboot dancing to Mapantsula jiving along with a gyrating Shakira performing live from a Madiba-blessed Soccer City in Johannesburg preceded the ferocious final showdown between Spain and the Netherlands. Whilst the closing ceremony was distinctly South African, ironically the finalists were ... Read More

2010 World Cup – Rainbow Palms, Fan Parks and a dazzling Golden Mile – How Durban has geared up for the World Cup

Your home city is never the same place you imagined it as a child. As you grow up you watch your urban environment transform, changing with the years, under new leaderships, buckling under internal pressures and expanding for future visions. Durban, circa 1990 is not the same as Durban the host city of 2010 for the FIFA World Cup. How ... Read More

2010 World Cup – Proving the Doom Mongers wrong from Green Point to Moses Mabhida…

From the much publicized draw in December 2009 held last year at a glittering ceremony at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, with celebrities like South African born, Hollywood actress Charlize Theron, English and Real Madrid Football player David Beckham in attendance, the 2010 World Cup Fever started to build up. The countdown although initiated from the announcement back in ... Read More