My nephew Nick, my sister’s eldest, was always a nice kid. As a youngster he was considered a bit mawkish and awkward, a trier rather than a flyer.
After school he announced he was going to become a DJ and did some musical technician’s course. Because he was such a pleasant kid, we all pretended to be impressed. Good luck, he will grow out of it, we thought.
On completion of the course, and after some time spinning discs, he then announced he was going to become a medical doctor. This had us all falling around laughing.
It is possible in the UK to become a mature student of medicine, but in order to get even into a university or medical school at that late stage, candidates have to sit and pass one of the toughest exams in the world. This test is held annually, for some strange reason, in Dublin, at the College of Surgeons, which is in Ireland and thus not in the UK. I suppose it’s a case of medicine not having frontiers.
Nick went and lived with my mum in Ireland in order to study and we all thought he was tilting at a windmill too far and far too big. Was he heck? He passed the exam, went to Nottingham University and is now a fully-fledged medical doctor. I have rarely been as proud of anybody.
A few months ago he told us he and his girlfriend were coming to South Africa for the first time for a holiday. As it was a short trip, they decided to visit Cape Town, do the Garden Route and then end up at a game farm in KZN. We were a bit disappointed they weren’t coming to see us in Joburg but understood. Time was few, as they say. The pair called us regularly on their trip.
They loved Cape Town but were shocked at how cold the water was. Nobody had told them and the tourist brochures showing golden sands and blue seas and skies had conveniently also neglected to mention the fact.
In a British winter, warm sea is required on holidays. It was also expensive, they observed.
The Garden Route was enjoyed and they headed to Durban for a few days before driving to the game farm near Ladysmith. They fell in love with Durban. They enjoyed the sea, sun and relaxed atmosphere and raved about the people, the restaurants and unique Afro/Euro/Asian feel of the city. It was value for money in spades, they said. Buckets and spades, I replied.
They told us that in hindsight, they would have spent the majority of their holiday, without a doubt, in the KZN port by the sea. They wanted to know why its allure and many attractions are such a big secret.
In their planning it was all Cape Town, Garden Route and also Joburg, as a base to visit the Kruger. Why was Durban almost ignored in the majority of literature and online marketing?
This is the reason that the Commonwealth Games shambles is such a tragedy.
Yes, it would have cost us a lot of money. Yes, government excess and alleged corruption is a major issue and a declared war on waste is a priority. Yes, populism, a la EFF, is the order of the day for leaders under pressure. Yes, to pull the plug was a tempting, soft target. All of those can be argued but instead, let us focus on the golden opportunity wasted.
The Games in Durban would have put the city and region on the world tourism map. We would have had with three world cities, rather than two. Thousands of temporary jobs would have been created and as the World Bank has said, in SA job experience rather than a matric is the key to getting real employment.
The athletes’ village would have cost millions but so will the housing that still has to be built for Durban’s poor. Roads and services need upgrading, so why spurn a chance to recoup the cost - or a portion of it - via a world event? 2022 would have given the whole country a deadline to get our buttons polished for the world.
Just like my nephew, visitors would plan to return and would have become unpaid, unofficial ambassadors for Durban and South Africa.
We seem to have no problem budgeting billions for weapons that are not needed, power stations that are too numerous, luxury jets and vehicles that are vanity projects, and state-owned enterprises that haemorrhage cash like there’s no tomorrow. Surely a modest efficiency drive on those and other excesses would have more than paid for the Commonwealth Games.
Now we have lost the golden opportunity and sadly, also made us a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. I wonder what the real cost will be?
*Robbie is a former British Lions, Ireland and Transvaal scrumhalf