I live in the Western Cape Province, one of South Africa’s nine provinces popularly known as Zillestan (so named for the leader of the opposition party governing the province). This particular fortress’ set-up–residential apartheid remains largely in practice–makes it almost impossible to feel that one is part of a bigger whole, i.e. South Africa. (In fact, Premier Helen Zille has on occasion referred to people moving to the province from other parts of South Africa as “refugees.”) So on a recent trip to Johannesburg (which is in Gauteng Province), a couple of friends decided to invade a Congolese restaurant in Yeoville; Kin Malebo on 31 Raleigh Street in Yeoville. The game was between DR Congo and Niger; I had access to a camera and decided to tag along. Good times were had by all.

The spirit of Afcon 2013 is infectious in the streets of Jozi, especially in the inner city where nationalities of all kinds from distant reaches of the African continent can be seen donning their respective countries’ national colours. In fact, I wrote something about the inner city and Afcon here. The final score for the DRC vs. Niger match was 0-0.