WE’RE going to win ... yes, with 200 days to go, we’re going to win ... Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am not so naive as to think Bafana Bafana is going snatch the 2010 Fifa World Cup, but we, as South Africa, are going to win because of it.

And why do I sense this?

I sense it because this middle-aged white woman was part of the joyous crowd of 44000 to attend the international friendly between Bafana Bafana and Japan at the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth a week ago.

That experience – despite the goalless draw – spoke vuvuzela volumes as to how far we have come as a nation, and how far we can still go as a vibrant, united South Africa.

For if what happened around us was happening elsewhere in the stadium then we, as a nation, have much reason for hope in our country’s future.

Yes, hope for South Africa in spite of the present crime, calamity and corruption.

I mean, did I ever think I’d dance at a soccer match, or discuss Bafana’s lack of firepower up front with a black man that I didn’t know from Adam, or even tolerate what sounded like a thousand brommer flies bromming in my ear? No. But I did, and happily so.

It was just as the mamas and their children seated in front of us tolerated our oft mispronounced rendition of the national anthem (though hopefully it was better than the infamous French reggae version) and the coloured folk behind us happily accommodated the to-ing and fro-ing of some exuberant beer-guzzling students.

Black, white and coloured sat, sang and danced happily alongside one another; with absolutely no hint of a time when these three were still three – developed separately, and ever wary of one another.

There’s little evidence of that wariness now, just Rainbow Nation camaraderie.

This bonhomie, accompanied by those ever-enthusiastic brommers, erupted into a Mexican wave within five minutes of the start of play and extended into various shows of togetherness well beyond the final whistle as the masses happily spilled out of the stadium and back into their own lives.

We all marvelled at the dance-like unison of Bafana’s warm-up routines; laughed at the Japanese photographers sprinting with their bazooka-like cameras and laptops for a spot behind the opponents’ goal and all equally bemoaned Bafana’s inability to score. We shared common ground.

United through ubuntu.

We saw it happen with South Africa’s 1995 victory in the Rugby World Cup. Divided people came together to support their team. It can happen again – no matter what the doomsayers rant – and extend well beyond the soccer spectacle.

I believe this after witnessing the jubilation of Saturday’s supporters, realising that despite our differences, the majority of people pretty much want the same thing – a comfortable, uncomplicated life in which everyone can thrive. And that most people – the mothers with their offspring, the knowledgeable soccer dad, the students, the nattily-dressed supporters from the northern areas and the aging whiteys with their binocs – are good, decent, law-abiding individuals.

Surely then, our combined hope for this better South Africa – you know, the one that’s alive with possibility – can jointly overcome the many negatives that bring us down.

It can. But so much of it is dependent on our attitude. We can seek to enrich our lives by embracing the vibrancy offered by living in our multicultural nation or opt to drown in the negativity of the naysayers. The choice is ours.

That is why I’m choosing to learn to blow a vuvuzela, if only to brom all that unbridled negativity into orbit.