Give us back our thunder please...

The fact that the Republic of South Africa is a giant in Africa in almost every sense of the word is a known factor by all people who are honest.

This country which lies at the southern tip of the African continent boasts of having the largest economy in Africa. The South African Economy is ranked # 32 in the world by the IMF, World Bank and the CIA Factbook. In fact the South African Economy is bigger than some European economies like Portugal and Finland. It is also bigger than the oil rich United Arab Emirates.

The main source of this wealth obviously is the vast amount of natural resources including Gold, Diamonds etc. it also boast of a very robust agricultural sector, a modern industrialized manufacturing sector as well as a strong tourism sector among others. It is no wonder therefore that South Africa is a super power in Africa but more so in the SADC region

Most of the economies in this part of Africa would not survive without doing business with this giant. The influence of South Africa has not been limited to the economic sphere; every facet of life has been touched by the Mzansi magic. Our capital city of Lilongwe was built by apartheid regime up to finer detail of gmelina trees which line most of our streets in the capital.

Since the beginning of the new millennium, big South African chain stores in the likes of Shoprite, Game and including the latest additions of Mr Price have really put a strong indelible mark on the country’s socio-economic landscape.

The entertainment sector has also not escaped the grip of this giant. Shows like Big Brother on DSTV and soapies like Generations on the widely available ‘free to air’ channels have also captured the imagination of the wider Malawian populace. In fact Malawians have been enjoying fruits of their rich southern neighbor from as early the colonial era when our grand fathers used to trek down south to work in the gold mines under the TEBA arrangement which was also popularly known as WENELA.

Another very interesting phenomenon which started in the mid-80s has been the exodus of footballers to play in the South African professional league. While in the beginning we were only sending players to the top league in that country, the trend has grown so much to the point where the bulk of our current crop of players now play in the lower league of that country also known as Mvela League.

Obviously a debate has raged in the country as to whether it is a wise decision to have our best players playing in the second tier of South African football. Some have argued that our own Super League is stronger than the Mvela league and others have argued otherwise. For me however, this debate deliberately misses the point; which is that playing in the Super league can never guarantee anyone a decent livelihood and as long as this remains the case, our players will continue making decisions about their careers with money being the only parameter to be considered.

Although this is the case, it is gratifying to note that Malawi along with Zambia and Mozambique are the only 3 teams from the SADC region still in contention for a place at the Africa Cup of nations in Angola. Needless to say that South Africa did not manage to go past the elimination stage. However since the World is as skewed as it is towards money they will still make a bow at the World Cup; smart huh…if you can’t qualify, just host it.

What has got me rumbling like this is a headline on the Supersport website (you guessed right, it is a South African website) which screamed “South African connection wins for Malawi” apparently referring to the two players who were involved in the goal scored by Malawi during the Ivory Coast game (Joseph Kamwendo and Jacob Ngwira) who play for South African clubs. I almost screamed in utter disgust at such a brazen theft of thunder asking myself whether they really had the right to claim the plaudits for an achievement which in my opinion was 100% Malawian. But maybe I am wrong because in this day and age only money does all the talking.

By the way our netball squad has been handing their South African counterparts some serious hammering for the past 3 years earning ourselves the best netball team of Africa accolade and being ranked 5th in the world. All our players happen to be locally based and maybe this is where we can claim that our victories are 100% Malawian!!