South Africans, young and old and across racial divide, turned out in numbers to greet the South African national team Bafana Bafana.
The excitement was visible everywhere, in the affluent areas and in townships like Alexandra where we spent most of the day on Thursday.
Nelson Mandela lived under tough conditions in Alexandra from 1940 until 1946. Today there are kids in the streets of the township, wearing Bafana Bafana t-shirts and hats, and sound of the Vuvuzela is everywhere.
On Thursday night the World Cup party kicked off with a concert by international and national artistes, attended by thousands of people.
Friday is the big party, the opening ceremony of World Cup, and then a month-long stable diet of football.
South Africans feel the world has come to them and they want to counter the prejudices they feel South Africa had faced in the run-up to the World Cup.
After South Africa won the bid to host the World Cup doubts were raised about the country's ability to pull it off, and there were even suggestions to move the tournament somewhere else.
Certainly, South Africa has major problems such as crime, HIV, racial tensions and a massive gap between the rich and poor.
But there is much else going for this country: and the fact that it has delivered on World Cup is a testament to that. Now it's South African’s time to enjoy the party and the world’s attention.
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