Armed with their vuvuzelas, millions of South Africans joined hundreds of thousands of visiting football devotees as they flocked to stadia, fan-parks and other public viewing sites. They screamed, they laughed, they cried, they cheered, and they adopted new teams when their own lost out. What a fest this 2010 event has been – the warm and fuzzy sense of having been part of its success rivals the feel-good factor of the dawning of democracy in 1994 and now that it’s all over.

Some predicted that the month-long football spectacle would be disrupted – marred by ongoing service delivery protests, incomplete infrastructure programmes, and wide-spread labour strikes as workers continue to fight for a better deal in one of the world's most unequal societies. Add to this: that close to a million people have lost their jobs since the global financial crisis struck South Africa in 2008; that the HIV/AIDS infection rate remains high; and that threats of a resurgence of xenophobic violence have already led to foreigners leaving South Africa.

But South Africans put their country first – nothing disrupted the World Cup. For the past month they found solidarity in green and yellow, blew their “trumpets” – in tune – and opened their hearts and their country to the world. They were a people with a common purpose. And it is this common purpose, along with South Africans’ re-found confidence and patriotism, that promises to be the World Cup’s most valuable legacy.

In post-World Cup South Africa, the EU’s partnership with the country remains as important as ever. Initiatives funded from the EU’s €980 million envelope for South Africa (2007-2013) are aligned to Government policies and implemented through national, provincial and local government, as well as through the private sector and civil society organisations.

A recent €100 million employment creation commitment builds on successful EU-funded local economic development programmes in South Africa’s three poorest provinces and is well timed in the aftermath of global recession. It compliments a number of smaller enterprise development initiatives and places emphasis on drawing marginalised communities into the mainstream economy.

Poor literacy and numeracy performance at primary school level is being addressed by a €123 million Primary Education Sector Policy Support Programme. This in addition, to initiatives supported in higher education including the Erasmus Mundus Programme that exposes local students and academics to European universities and institutions of higher education.

€45 million has been committed to the delivery of primary health care (including HIV and Aids) for the country’s poorest communities, with more than 700 NGOs delivering home-based care services. A further €126 million primary health care programme is currently in the process of being adopted.

Significantly, there has been increasingly close cooperation between the EU and its Member States in addressing South Africa’s development challenges.

A good example is the EU’s recent contribution of €6 million to widen the scope of the German-funded Youth Development Through Football. This GTZ-managed programme seeks to empower youths from disadvantaged communities across Africa by teaching tolerance and life skills through sport. The initiative is supported by the 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee and forms part of the legacy of Africa’s first ever football World Cup.