This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G

This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. ‘These whites never come to our game. What do they know about our soccer?’ Soccer Fandom, Race, and the Rainbow Nation in South Africa Marc Fletcher PhD African Studies The University of Edinburgh 2012 ii The thesis has been composed by myself from the results of my own work, except where otherwise acknowledged. It has not been submitted in any previous application for a degree. Signed: (MARC WILLIAM FLETCHER) Date: iii iv ABSTRACT South African political elites framed the country’s successful bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup in terms of nation-building, evoking imagery of South African unity. Yet, a pre-season tournament in 2008 featuring the two glamour soccer clubs of South Africa, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, and the global brand of Manchester United, revealed a racially fractured soccer fandom that contradicted these notions of national unity through soccer. This thesis examines the racial divisions in Johannesburg soccer fandom, exploring the continuing wider importance of racial identities in post-apartheid South Africa. Sport is not merely a leisure activity but a space in which everyday identities are negotiated and contested. Specifically, soccer in South Africa has been a site in which racial divisions have been both entrenched and subverted, spanning the colonial era to the present day. However, in focusing on race, this thesis seeks to move beyond simple binaries that have characterised the debates on identity in South Africa; particularly race versus class. Race, through the perspective of creolisation, becomes unfixed and fluid. However, despite reinterpreting race, racial divisions still scar the post-apartheid city. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork with the supporters’ organisations of Kaizer Chiefs, Bidvest Wits and Manchester United football clubs in Johannesburg draws out narratives of fandom often marginalised in Africanist scholarship. Drawing on wide-ranging sources including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and local newspapers, themes of racial difference and otherness emerge. The divided Johannesburg soccer landscape reinforced feelings of disenfranchisement and marginalisation in everyday life from the predominantly white Manchester United supporters while the exclusively black Kaizer Chiefs constructed the domestic game as a black cultural space. While Bidvest Wits offers a symbolic case of multi-racial interaction, certain supporters began to challenge such fractures; some United supporters showed interest in attending domestic games while the Chiefs supporters viewed the researcher as a conduit to attracting these white supporters. Furthermore, the national euphoria generated during 2010 World Cup did temporarily alter perspectives of the city and how the supporters travelled through it, challenging perceived barriers. Yet, themes of exclusion and division remained, brought back to the fore after the tournament. v vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. v ACRONYMS, NICKNAMES AND SOCCER TERMINOLOGY ......................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... xiii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... xv 1.) INTRODUCTION: MANCHESTER UNITED AND THE WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA ........... 1 Unity and division ................................................................................................. 1 Thesis synopsis .................................................................................................... 4 Terminology of race ............................................................................................. 6 Soccer or football? Supporter or fan? ................................................................... 8 Approaching the research ...................................................................................10 Chapter synopsis ................................................................................................11 2.) SPORT, FANDOM AND POPULAR CULTURE: THE IMPORTANCE OF SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA .................................................................................................................................... 17 The significance of sports fandom .......................................................................19 An imagined community of supporters? ..............................................................30 Locating the research ..........................................................................................43 The significance of sport in South Africa..............................................................46 Sport during colonial times and the segregation period ............................................... 47 Sport and Apartheid ....................................................................................................... 51 Post-Apartheid, sport and identity ................................................................................ 56 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................61 3.) DIVISION, EXCLUSION, OTHERNESS: THE CONTINUING SIGNIFICANCE OF RACE IN POST- APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA .................................................................................................... 63 Approaches to Identity in South Africa .................................................................67 Liberalism/ Pluralism ...................................................................................................... 67 Marxist/ radical .............................................................................................................. 69 The Challenge of Social History ...................................................................................... 72 Reinterpreting race ........................................................................................................ 76 Framing the research ..........................................................................................83 Race and space in Johannesburg .......................................................................86 Conclusion - Rainbowism ....................................................................................95 4.) METHODOLOGY: FIFTEEN HOURS IN A MINIBUS TAXI AND BACK AGAIN ........................ 99 Case studies ..................................................................................................... 100 Case One - Kaizer Chiefs ............................................................................................... 103 vii Case Two - Manchester United in South Africa ........................................................... 105 Case Three - Bidvest Wits ............................................................................................ 106 Choosing Johannesburg ............................................................................................... 108 Ethnography and Autoethnography ................................................................... 111 The Challenges of Data Collection .................................................................... 122 Research Ethics ................................................................................................ 134 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 135 5.) “WHAT DO THEY KNOW ABOUT OUR SOCCER?”: JOHANNESBURG’S DIVIDED SOCCER LANDSCAPE .......................................................................................................................... 137 A distanced and removed fandom? ................................................................... 140 Manchester United and middle class suburbs ............................................................. 141 Kaizer Chiefs, urban decay and vuvuzelas ................................................................... 146 Crossing boundaries ..................................................................................................... 150 Reasons for support .......................................................................................... 157 Manchester United supporters – looking outwards .................................................... 157 Kaizer Chiefs supporters – township soccer ................................................................ 161 Bidvest Wits – a second team .....................................................................................

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