Mzansi Is Already Full of Superfans, Mama Joy Is Not the Only One
The FIFA World Cup fever has been heating up for a hot minute now, and we are around 60 days from the planet’s biggest sporting spectacle. From the Democratic Republic of Congo pushing for their statuesque super fan Lumumba to accompany the team to America to scepticism concerning the Iranian team landing in the US due to the ongoing Iranian War in the Middle East, the upcoming World Cup has already experienced its fair share of drama even way before the blowing of the first whistle. One of those dramas now includes Mama Joy, South Africa’s multi-sport superfan.
Mama Joy has been a staple in the stands of South African national teams, and with her signature imichokozo and inkehli, and her energy, she has become a national totem, much like how Lumumba has become for the DRC. Whether it’s Bafana Bafana on the field or the Springboks doing their thing, Mama Joy is a familiar bedfellow spectating from the stands.
Mama Joy with FIFA President Giorgio Infantino | SUPPLIED
The superfan got into a spat with current minister of Sports and Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie over funding, which McKenzie has been altogether disapproving of. In between Gayton claiming that Mama Joy’s state-funded trip to watch the Springboks in their Rugby World Cup-winning campaign in France, which cost a whooping R700 000 and Mama Joy alleging that the funding was from President Cyril Ramaphosa himself and not the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, a debate has ensued on who is in the wrong.
With Gayton seemingly turning off the faucet on funding based on his stance regarding the matter, the threat of an ostensible gap of national personality in the South African stands lingers but isn’t pronounced. Mzansi is a nation that is known for its charismatic people and rabid support in sports, whether it’s domestic gameplay or international matches. South African fans are known for constantly coming out in their numbers to support their teams in real time and the social media world is their oyster as they normally dominate topics on X, TikTok and Facebook.
Gayton McKenzie on Mama Joy’s sponsored trips:
While the trademark will be somewhat weaker, there is no doubt that South African presence will be traceable at the very least—after all, Bafana supporters are quite vocal. Popular consensus itself also seems to weigh against Joy as if in agreement to the previous point, with citizens expressing the pointlessness of sending only Mama Joy on a costly trip that is stacked on the backs of taxpayers, who are already disgruntled over ongoing corruption that involves state fund looting and the zeitgeist of feeling overtaxed and underpaid.
If the Minister of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and a greater percentage of South Africans are in agreement about cutting the funds, then perhaps Mama Joy is not unexpendable. Coupled with Bafana Bafana not coming to her rescue like how the DRC national team did for Lumumba, perhaps it’s best that she lets the matter go and watch from home like the rest of the country that has been paying for her exorbitant trips.