Has the World Cup made South Africans more tolerant?

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Thank GOD South Africans have realized that they need their brothers Africans to keep warm and going for it is one thing that unite us-our culture heritage. Watch Africans the continent over; we have some things in common no matter where you are from. My hope is that this world cup will expose South Africans hospitality to the rest of the continent and the world over and will take away the prejudice that people may have had about these beautiful people with such sweet and beautiful voice.

[Personal details removed by Moderator] Africa is the most tolerant people on earth so much so that we allow foregners to exploit our resources at our disadvantage.

If South africans were not tolerant the oppressors would be swimming in their blood long ago.

The nonsense South Africans are putting up daily will never happen in Europe.

The time will soon come when this nonsense will cease on African soil what the west call "Pay back time"

The xenophobic attacks took place in Alexandra which is one of South Africa's poorest communities (albeit bordering South Africa's, and arguably Africa's richest neighbourhoods - Sandton). The issue was that the South African poor felt that immigrants from neighbouring countries were preventing them from getting employment as a result of the hideously low pay the majority of them were happy to accept.

My own maid complained that her daughter could no longer get work in Sandton as all the restaurants, corner shops and hair salons prefered to employe the cheaper and more determined immigrants from the north, who would never complain of their poor wages and working conditions, let alone contemplate the strike actions so favoured by South Africans.

In my experience, xenophobia is largely confined within poorer South African communities - richer and middle class South Africans look down their noses on such behaviour and generally believe that Africa would be a much richer place if we combined our resources against poverty and all the social ills that plague us today.

As the majority of the South Africans attending the World Cup and showing their support to African nations are those that can afford to do so (i.e. the middle classes), it would be difficult to say that the warmth displayed and shared by this group of South Africans will spill over and tame the hearts of those who still may feel that immigrants are responsible for their lack of opportunity, and for the deplorable circumstances they find themselves living under.

By and large, South Africa remains an intriguing tapestry of race, language and culture, and has only been enrinched by the beauty and diversity visitors from across the globe and within the borders of Africa bring with them when they make themselves a part of our wonderful land.

You can't confuse the reception African foreigners will receive during the WC to what goes on in South Africa normally. The sense of unity that South Africans feel with Africa has always been very strong. Many South Africans will refer to other Africans as brothers. They love Africa, as an abstract concept, and they always have. They are proud of African nations who won their freedom from colonial rulers.

South Africans will welcome any foreigners to the WC with open arms, and will always support African teams. However when the tourists go home, and the country is faced with the usual problem of millions of immigrants illegal and legal, who are competing with already disadvantaged South Africans for basic housing and jobs that are very scarce, well, the resentment will be there as usual and the violence will boil up again and again.

South African people are no more tolerant or intolerant than any others, but the circumstances in which many of them live lead to problems that won't go away until the problems are solved.

As a South African, I think this will only last until after the world cup and thereafter it will be cat and dog again. The world can't blame us south africans, we have the highest unemployment rate yet we have foreign nationals scrambling with us for those fewer jobs. We have foreign africans c[Personal details removed by Moderator]ommiting various kind of crimes, giving our country a bad name in the process. What is more annoying is the fact that most of those foreign africans in our country don't come from countries with civil wars, there's nothing wrong in their countries. They just see our country as another New York. Believe me, there will be a massive violence targeted to foreign africans after the world cup.

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I agree completely with CBrown. The question reminds me of past news reports on southern Sudan describing the "brutalily of arabs against 'black Africans'". In the Sudan, one cannot make a distinction between "africans" and "arabs". They are all black, most very dark-skinned.
Let us not draw distinctions where there aren't any. South Africans' concern for their job security is no different from those of others, including Nigerians who, in the 1970s, deported a large number of other West Africans who had moved there to work on their oil fields.

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South Africans inner troubles can only be sorted out by South Africans and they seem to do just that and I do not think they need outside interference at this point. Keeping the whites in South Africa is good for the region and the only whites that ought to enjoy best citizenship in surrounding regions are those who never wavered their alliance to the community or packed up and run away when trouble surfaced. South Africa will have to host other things for Africa as well beyond football. One thing South Africa can capitalize on is a vast satellite TV network that serves Africa with the best interest of the continent. South Africa also needs to work towards migrating outward by working with neighboring countries and build better rail services so South African technology is not confounded. It all depends on how Africans perceive the few whites we have among us which are valuable in my opinion for significant part. Those bad apples can be expelled to their place of origin thanks to modern day transport. At the end South Africa will do well if the rest Africans know how to get hold of the knowledge the whites have, not what material they posses.

Has the World Cup made South Africans more tolerant?
It is football folks. When you have a common team to stand behind, you get united for the moment. There was SA-Team then and now there is Ghana near the finish line that everyone is hoping that they win including many Brits and Americans with hopes of seeing Germans loose. Because otherwise the only way to win over the advancing Germans is the US, UK, and France to form an emergency allied team at the last minute.

The world cup has done little if anything at all to change the attitude of black south Africans towards other African nationals. What south africans have against other african residing in their country can't be erased overnight by a WC event! Its a generational problem. Unless steps are taken to educate south africans on the reality of migratory movements in africa due to economic, political and even social reasons, this resentment of "foreigners" will live with them for a long while yet. I believe it all boils down to exposure. The average south african black, has very limited exposure and contact with people from other countries/cultures, perhaps a long term effect of the apartheid system. South African's shouls also be able to know that they are not the only african country to deal with the situation of immigrants, legal or illegal. Every other african country has the same problem to deal with. The difference here is that South Africa as a country is dealing rather badly with the problem.

The wworld Cup was just an additional activity that helps the South Africans to be more united. This is becuase South Africa has been tolerant since the end of the apathied system. However, there has been series of voilence expecially with the Xenophobic attack against Zimbabweans and other southern Africans. But the World Cup has actually helped to accept other nations.Similar events could be held in other volatile areas in the continent.