As South Africa on Monday begins the process of organising for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, President Thabo Mbeki has vowed to confront those who consider it their "permanent job" to paint a negative image of the country.
"There are some people in the country, within South Africa, who think they've got a permanent job to paint a negative image of South Africa. I suspect they are people who essentially were not happy that apartheid came to an end and that South Africa became a democratic country.
"They've never accepted the transition to a democratic society. They retain the hope that the country will fail, but they're the ones who are going to fail," Mbeki told the Pretoria News in an exclusive interview at South Africa's embassy in Berlin.
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He rejected reports that Fifa was working on an emergency plan to take the 2010 World Cup to Australia should South Africa be unable to host it, saying somebody had "cooked up a silly story" in order to communicate a negative message about the country.
'This is what the world called a miracle' He said those same elements were the ones who had spread stories about South African politicians receiving kickbacks from German companies in South Africa's controversial arms deal.
"You will get all these negative things. For instance there have been stories that there are some inquiries about the defence acquisition, the so-called arms deal, because there are suggestions of corruption. It's entirely mischievous. Whatever investigations the Germans are doing I am absolutely certain they will find that the contracts given to the German companies were given properly. They will come to the same findings made by the Auditor-General, the Public Protector and the prosecuting authorities in South Africa," said Mbeki.
While dismissive over negative reports about South Africa's ability to host the World Cup, he acknowledged it would be a "big challenge".
'Let's now believe in ourselves'
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