DOING THE FAN WALK ROLL

For the benefit of those who have been hibernating for the last month, or who have been off visiting other planets in our galaxy, we here in Cape Town have been exposed to, and infected by, the phenomenon known as the “fan walk”.

I am not sure how the concept of a fan walk came into being, although my research indicates that it pre-dates our 2010 Soccer World Cup. I cannot help feel that even though it might have been created elsewhere, it was used as a cunning ploy by our city fathers to get around the serious transport problem of getting 65 000 people to a stadium which has no rail link and bans all motor vehicles within two kilometres of the ground on match days. They got the fans to walk the 3km from the city centre to the stadium, made a fuss about it, thereby turning it into an event. It reminded me of the story of telling someone where to go in such a way that they look forward to the journey. Regardless, it became an public relations success, and in terms of people numbers, superseded the actual soccer matches. Word spread like wildfire that, whether you had tickets to the game or not, you simply had to do the fan walk.

I would not consider myself to be a soccer fan, in the true sense of the words. I tire quickly of seeing grown men feign injury at the slightest brush with their opponents, although I would be partial to the miraculous recoveries they make once free kicks are awarded! I am more a cricket follower, with a sprinkling of rugby when I feel the need for some bone crushing confrontations. I use the term “follower” carefully, because in the case of those sports being a “fan” can be a heavy burden and something of a rollercoaster ride of success and failure. But soccer brought the world’s largest World Cup competition to our shores, and along with it more fans and media attention than we have ever seen before.

So that is how I came to find myself, bundled up against the Cape evening mid-winter cold, on a dark street in the centre of town along with what seemed to be about a million people dressed in bright orange! They were of course Dutch supporters, preparing to do battle with Cameroon, in what looked like a fancy dress competition. Men in tailored three piece orange or Delft pattern suits, women in three pointed white bonnets and clogs, all adorned with vuvuzela’s, oversized glasses and wigs, makarapas, scarves and a wash of flags. A ribbon of festivity pouring through the city streets!

I must have caught the fan walk fever, because ten days later on a considerably warmer Saturday afternoon there I was again, this time surrounded by most of Germany and much of Argentina! The newspapers claimed that up to 300 000 people participated in the fan walk that day, it felt like there were a lot more. For over five hours a sea of humanity washed first up, then down, the route, for most of the time completely spanning the four lane wide Somerset Road portion. Roadside bands, street entertainers, curio sellers and food stall owners all competed for the attention of the fans while they in turn provided entertainment to the thousands who lined the route.

What was not lost on all those who participated was the spirit, or “gees”, of the day, the friendliness of all who walked, the helpfulness of the organisers, and the safety of the police presence. The ability to walk freely in the downtown city centre during the day or night was almost liberating. Everyone I know has asked “why can it not always be so?”.

What was probably lost to all but the wheelchair walkers, and their assistants, was the fact that one could walk from the Grand Parade to Green Point Stadium without encountering a single step or curb. That is quite an achievement in a city where new, but completely inaccessible, public buildings continue to be built every month. Whilst I have serious concerns about the future financial implications of the Soccer World Cup it has generated a “can do” attitude amongst many of our city planners. The challenge is to see whether, after the last vuvuzela has fallen silent, we can maintain the momentum of developing and building an accessible environment, and a spirit to match!