"Waka waka" - Time for Africa?

A few days ago, I watched an old-time Afrikaans movie called "Orkney Snork Nie". I don't know how many of you know it, but it was originally a popular Afrikaans sitcom which was broadcasted by the SABC between 1989 and 1992, and then produced 2 movies. I was really young when I watched it, but the series and movies have been repeated over a number of years and I still enjoy them every time I watch them. It's ridiculously funny.

Anyway, getting back to my point... The last part of the movie plays out on an island where the oldest couple is celebrating their honeymoon which they never had. All their children then join them later and once they are all together, their youngest daughter says: "Let's do the Waka Waka" and they then sing and dance to the Waka Waka song. I couldn't believe my ears and eyes. The first time I had ever heard this song was during the 2010 FIFA World Cup which took place in South Africa and was by Shakira and Freshly Ground. After watching the movie, I decided to do some research on the matter...

I found out that the World Cup song was actually based on a traditional African soldiers' song sung by a Cameroonian group called Golden Sounds in 1986. I then watched the video via Youtube of the original song and saw that it was very similar, if not identical to the Waka Waka song which is reported to be written by Shakira and John Hill. According to the Hubpages site, at the time that Shakira released the song, the Golden Sounds group leader, Ze Bella received a phone call from an acquaintance in France who informed him that Shakira had just released a version of their song, "Zangalewa". Even though he was proud that a world famous icon had remixed their song as the World Cup anthem, they at least expected to be properly credited and adequately compensated. After this, FIFA, Sony and Shakira had apparently come to an out of court settlement amount and all sides were happy.

During the World Cup, I felt that this song brought our country and the world together. It was such a catchy tune, and you could just feel the fantastic vibe which the song brought. At first I had difficulty accepting that Shakira was the person who represented this song for the "South African" World Cup, as I felt that it would have been a great opportunity to have let a South African artist sing it. However, it worked and everyone loved it. I now feel upset and almost hurt, knowing that this was a 'stolen' song and that nothing was said (that I had heard) about it during the World Cup.

Anyway, the World Cup has come and gone and I still look back at it being an amazing opportunity which our country underwent. I miss the vibe and buzz in Cape Town and hope that one day, we will have the opportunity to host something as big as a World Cup again and then have local artists only representing the anthems/ songs. 

                                                                 Golden Sounds in 1986

Shakira in 2010