Pretoria - With the FIFA Confederations Cup just around the corner, government has urged South Africans to develop a sense of patriotism and pride towards the country and its national symbols.
"We need to encourage patriotism and pride towards our national anthem, flag and soccer team, Bafana Bafana," said Tiyani Rikhotso, Chief Director of the 2010 Communication Project Management Unit at the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).
He was speaking to reporters in Pretoria prior to the "Fly the Flag for Football Campaign" - which is a catalyst to instill a sense of pride and patriotism towards the country's flag, national anthem and soccer team. The campaign is also used to raise awareness on the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
"We need to create a general state of excitement around both tournaments and to build pride and foster collective "ownership' of tournaments," Mr Rikhotso said.
He said through the campaign, which takes place at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria today, government and its stakeholders want to build confidence in the state of readiness and capacity to host both tournaments.
"As the nation, we must rearticulate and renew our commitment to national values and nation-building," he said.
This domestic mobilisation campaign was launched in April this year by the 2010 National Communication Partnership (NCP) led by GCIS and the International Marketing Council.
In the past three weeks, the campaign has rocked the four FIFA Confederations Cup host cities which include Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Rustenburg.
On Wednesday, the 2010 NCP took the road show to Pretoria where their open deck bus visited various areas such as Mamelodi, Tshwane CBD, Marabastad, Soshanguve, Hammaskraal and others.
The campaign is continuing today as the bus will be visiting TUT to encourage a sense of nationalism and pride among the students, where people like prominent Radio DJ and businessman Sibusiso "DJ Sbu" will be addressing the youth.
Meanwhile, over 200 young football players participating in the Pan African COPA Coca Cola Football Stars tournament visited SAFA House on Thursday to meet the team behind the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
The players, who represent the future African talent that may represent the continent on the world-stage in 2018, arrived in Tshwane on 29 May to prepare for the tournament which will determine the best Under-17 football team on the continent.
The South African side plays host to teams from ten African countries, and an Invitational Team of individual players who impressed selectors during the country specific tournaments.
The teams' visit to SAFA House in Nasrec aims to expose the players to the journey South Africa and Africa have taken towards realising the dream to host the world's biggest football event.
