There was an impromptu street festival in downtown Sandton yesterday when the hosts travelled on an open-top bus, writes KEITH DUGGANin Johannesburg

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON the enormity of the goodwill backing the South African football team became clear to the players. What originated several months ago as a casual idea from a local radio show host was transformed into an impromptu street festival in downtown Sandton yesterday when the football team, darlings of the nation for a few weeks anyway, made an appearance on an open-top bus. Their presence on the streets seemed to signal a green light for the general excitement to bloom into outright delirium.

All around the team was good natured chaos. Thousands made their way to the business district of Johannesburg. Everyone seemed to be carrying at least one vuvuzela, the long air horn which is the accoutrement of choice among South African sports fans. Dozens of fans hung off fire engines which announced the arrival of the team bus and many more just danced, kicked footballs and grinned. Virtually nobody was drinking alcohol. There were no hawkers to be seen. The police presence was zero. It was just an outbreak of happy bedlam.

“Today is about showing unity towards Bafana Bafana and to show the international countries that we are patriotic and that we can do this and that we are one nation,” shouted Mmabatho Montse over the non-stop chorus of the vuvuzela.

“Sport in general does that here,” she said. When the Bulls play in Soweto, white and black drink together, have a good time together. The cultural and racial barriers have lessened a lot.”

If Matthew Booth was intimidated by what was an extraordinarily passionate endorsement of a football team of modest tradition, he hid it well, happily filming the endless body of fans which trailed down the highway. But privately, the big defender must have had a fleeting sense of the maniacal complex that John Lennon immortally captured all those decades ago upon witnessing the hordes that turned up to greet the Beatles at JFK airport. The metamorphosis of the Springbok rugby team at the 1995 World Cup remains fresh in the memory here. Now it is the turn of the national soccer team.

“In modern history, it has been about rugby. Soccer was traditionally black and it is so nice now to be able to give back because we got so much black support during 1995. And it shouldn’t be black or white because it is one country. I think that is what this means,” said Angus McCallum-Brown, a Zimbabwean man now living in the city. He had been picking his son up from boarding school – the African schools are breaking early for the tournament – and found the radio reports of the parade irresistible.

“My son looked at me and he just said; ‘Dad, we gotta go’. That is the enthusiasm.” Stuart, his son, shook his head ruefully when asked if he played soccer at school.

“No, unfortunately at my school it is mainly rugby. But we have inter-house soccer and I do love to see it live. We played Nipper Soccer here as well at school before high school.” They both believed that Bafana Bafana are capable of doing well in the tournament. “I think there is huge pressure on the team to perform,” McCallum-Brown senior said.

“When you think the second game against Uruguay is on June 16th and that is a public holiday, Soweto Day. So imagine the emotion that is going to be around the city then. And the first game is one of enormous pressure anyway. So if they win those two, the reaction will be uncontainable.”

The impatience for the tournament to begin is evident on the streets and the seconds must be passing slowly for the footballers. Before the parade, Booth had spoken about the input to the squad by Robin Banks, an esteemed motivational speaker.

“He has worked wonders for us, tried to instil in us positive thoughts. When they cut the squad there were a lot of players that were thinking negatively. It was important for him to come in and have a chat with us and get us revved up. We possibly might see him again before the opening game.”

It is unlikely that Nelson Mandela repeats his historic visit to the team dressingroom before the match but the 91-year-old confirmed his determination to attend tomorrow’s game. The devotion towards the national figurehead remains as fervent as ever and his attendance is the defining symbol of the importance of this tournament to South Africa. Among the merry lunacy of the streets, a bearded man in a red football shirt was busy throwing a football to local kids to head back to him.

Afterwards, he would invite them to sign the football. It was noticeably battered and every spare patch of leather was covered in ink. “17,000” he grinned when asked how many signatures were on the football.

Philip Wake has taken the football from its starting point in Battersea Park through 32 countries for the past 136 days, gathering signatures as he goes. From children in townships to national presidents, all names are there – and none are legible.

He reckons Julio Cesar is the most illustrious name to adorn the football but is equally impressed at having secured the signature of the president of the West African vodun religion.

“So this ball was made in Kenya by a fair trade organisation – made in Africa for Africa’s World Cup. We have been on the road for 136 days through 32 countries. 17,000 people have signed the ball. Kings and presidents have signed it. It was repaired in Cameroon, Sambia, Kenya and Namibia. And it has just arrived in time for the opening ceremony of the World Cup.”

The project seemed in perfect synchronicity with the general mood in Johannesburg after the open bus moved slowly through the crowd. A sort of hippy vibe has spread through a city once known for its totalitarian mode of governance. It is up to the team to keep the euphoria going.

Quite how the South Africans are supposed to negotiate a path through a group that also includes France is a matter for Carlos Alberto Parreira to fret about. In Johannesburg, the people don’t care how. Already, they have allowed themselves to be transported by this tournament.

“Oh man, this is the best country,” declared Buyo Mayisela. “For me, I am not from here, I am from Kimberley and this is the most interracial city that I have ever experienced. What these tournaments do is let people know, oh, here is a black guy, he is not a criminal; here is a white guy, he is not a racist. This is the greatest time in this country since 1994.”

Imagine what will happen if South Africa score a goal.