Contradicting styles of play in the PSL, as well as in all the Youth National Teams right up to the National Team invoke a very critical question: ‘Is there indeed a specific South African football mentality and a playing style?’ In finding the right answer among so many confusing stands on this question, it is essential to consider historical, political, social, economic and cultural processes, which of necessity have to be linked and related. All these factors have an important role to play in molding people’s cultural and sport identity. Questioning and debating the need for a national mentality and identity of the national sport in South Africa and other African countries must not be viewed as normal and acceptable in this modern era. The fact that football is extremely popular in South Africa, but not its ‘African Identity’, poses a huge concern. Repulsively, one can identify the roots of such anomaly in that sequence of history when Africans were under colonial rule and dominance. It started with the imposition of linguistic codes, cultural and sport concepts and assumptions, social images and Western/European notions that underpin what it is that constitutes desirable knowledge (Muthukrishna, 1995). In the field of culture Africa was taught to look on Europe as her teacher and the centre of man’s civilization, and herself as the pupil. In this event Western culture became the centre of Africa’s process of learning, and Africa was relegated to the background. Africa uncritically imbibed values that were alien and had no immediate relevance to her people” (wa Thiong’o, 1991) The theory of Reactive Identification is formulated on the experiences of black minority groups in the diaspora who were exposed to white dominant culture (the USA). However, the theory offers easy extrapolation for our purposes as it allows us to understand and explain instances of domination and subjugation under colonialism, under neo-colonialism and in instances of auto-colonialism.
Football is the most important social activity participated in by the majority of our population … if we do not act expeditiously, incisively and appropriately, we will reap the unpleasant rewards of our ineptitude
The work done by the Somali Psychiatrist Hussein Abdilahi Bulhan shows us the psychological stages that dominated people go through when subjected to dominant cultural (sport as well) forms. I will now present a synopsis of each of the three stages described by Bulhan: Stage 1: Moving Towards This is the stage when the dominated subject has internalized his ‘inferiority’ relative to the ‘superiority’ of the master race or group. The dominated subject believes that he is ‘inferior’ to the members of the dominant group and as a consequence he tries as hard as possible to be like the dominant group in every way possible. This is to be seen in the way that the dominated subject casts off a whole range of cultural/sport identifiers such as names, language, religion, what sports to play or watch, food, etc. He is embarrassed by what he is and as a result, seeks to attain a new identity by being like the master. During this stage the dominated subject does everything possible to be like the master and so all his actions are directed at Moving Towards the dominant cultural group. Stage 2: Moving Away
This stage is marked by a feeling of alienation on the part of the dominated subject. He is alienated from his own culture, and tries as he may; he realizes that he could never be totally acceptable to the dominant cultural group, irrespective of the extent to which he approximates their culture simply because he is not ‘one of them. He may have their names, talk their language, follow their religion and eat their food, but he will never be one of them. During this period he experiences a sense of being lost and suffers an identity crisis. During this stage a romanticizing of the native culture is observed. Stage 3: Moving Against This is the revolutionary period and the revolution may be either of a passive or active nature. A passive revolution would be the rejection of everything that one would associate with the dominant group. Examples of such passive revolutionary actions would be the reversion to cultural names, increasing calls for a repositioning of the excluded languages of the dominated groups, a reaffirmation of original spiritual beliefs and demands for parity with regard to traditional cultural forms in general. In America we saw Black people taking Middle-Eastern-sounding names and adopting Islam as a religion. In South Africa we have seen that our black population prefers to use their traditional black names instead of their western names. Dominated people are no longer embarrassed to openly practice their cultures.
It must be noted that the three stages signify a progressively greater awareness on the part of dominated people which is attributed to the acquisition of greater knowledge. Ignorance imprisons one while knowledge sets one on the road to freedom. Another point that must be made is that individuals in society may be at different stages in their progression through this descriptive model. It is a rarity to be able to describe entire social formations as being at a particular stage, although this is typically so at the beginning of the stage of domination and subjugation. The intelligentsias are more likely to be at the third stage while the less well-informed are likely to be located at the first or second stage. The three-stage model and football It is possible to identify the three stages in the history of South African football although the description will not follow the neat linearity associated with historical analysis. Stage 1: Moving Towards South African football can still be identified as having features of this stage, particularly within certain groupings of people who look to the English version of the game as being the epitome of everything that is the best in football and which is then to be emulated. Local teams have English Premier League names and people support teams from this league and wear their team’s regalia. Certain media channels, indiscriminately, covers and promote English football more than local football.
When they are asked which team they support they readily reply “Manchester United,” or “Arsenal” or “Liverpool,” or “Chelsea.” When asked who their favourite player is they will give you a name of a player from the English or European leagues, who until recently would have been British. Some population groups do not support South African football and do not even watch it. They are unlikely to know the names of local players. Despite the fact that England has won only one international competition, the 1966 edition of the World Cup, it is still believed by a large segment of the local population that English football is the best. There is clearly a failure to recognize the fact that the game as it is currently played in England is not English football but an amalgam that has been constructed by the influx of numerous foreign players. In fact, England as a country is having great difficulty producing players who are able to play at this new, high level of creativity. The zenith of belief in the English system coincided with the existence of the whites-only National Football League (NFL) which relied very heavily on the importation of third, fourth division and non- league players from Britain. Stage 2: Moving Away This, in the classical theoretical model presented above is the phase of alienation. Teams are coached on models that are not derived from their own cultural systems. The players try as hard as they can to be like the typical British or European player so they kick hard, run fast, jump high and tackle hard, but they never meet with the approval of the coach who believes in the efficacy of this way of coaching and playing. Training sessions pay very little attention to the development of technical ability, but focus rather on physical conditioning. Players run up and down grandstands, they run for hours, they do hours of gym work all designed to make them as rugged as their British or European counterparts. The players never attain these ‘lofty’ ideals because they are not British or Europeans, but still the coach persists. In team talks players are told to “knock the ball, long,” “don’t mess around with the ball,” “kick him off the park,” and “climb into the opposition.” When players dwell on the ball the coach admonishes them for demonstrating “monkey tricks,” and “playing in the circus.” All creativity is stifled. The players are warned that if they show their natural ability, they will be dropped from the team. The players realize that there is a clash between what they would like to do as opposed to what they are allowed to do. The players lose belief in themselves and begin to despise that which is truly theirs: their nature. They are trapped between two conflicting systems that are making contradictory demands upon them. Their neurological systems have needs that are not being satisfied because they are playing in a way that is unnatural. The ‘master’ demands that they abandon who they are if they want to succeed. This is the football player who experiences a sense of alienation and plays a game, which is supposed to bring joy, but all he experiences is unhappiness. Stage 3: Moving Against As has been said above, this is the revolutionary stage and is characterized either by active or passive reactions. This is when the culturally dominated people, after their ascendancy to power, expel the dominator from their midst, or less radically, renounce all his teachings. The previously dominated people come to realize that they were being misled all along. They realize that what was being touted as universal was in fact parochial. They also realize that they have much to offer that is of great value but it has been ignored all along. They realize that their progress has been retarded because their natural inclinations were curbed. This is the great, liberating realization of free people. They stand up for what is right and they stand up for what is theirs because it has every right to respect and esteem just as others have. There have been instances in other parts of the world, where this realization has dawned upon a nation and they have expelled the fraudsters. These prophets of misinformation often know no better and act in a way that they believe is best. They must be educated. Sadly, as a nation we have not reached the stage of Moving Against those people and processes that have contributed towards our decline as a football-playing nation. We have the necessary evidence that is scientific and incontrovertible: the football philosophy and the subsequent processes that emanate from it must be rooted in the environment, the physiology, the psychology, the sociology and culture of the people who play the game. Yes, we must appreciate and embrace our African football mentality and style. If it is not, it will only lead to disastrous football consequences for the nation. Football is the most important social activity participated in by the majority of our population … if we do not act expeditiously, incisively and appropriately, we will reap the unpleasant rewards of our ineptitude. By Prof. L S Jeevanantaham (PhD)
– By Analysis: Prof. L S Jeevanantaham (PhD)
