Dear President Zuma,

Dear President Zuma,

On behalf of ALL South Africans, may I extend my heartfelt thanks for bringing the Fifa 2010 World Cup to South Africa to you, your government (your relevant predecessors), Safa (and all their relevant predecessors), the Local Organising Committee and every other person (especially Madiba) who had a hand in securing and organising this momentous event.

This event has given birth to team South Africa, a united nation who can hold its head up high, and proudly say, "Yes, we can!" and "yes, we did!"

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of some of the things you asked the LOC:

lTo ensure that the stadiums and associated infrastructure would be ready timeously - they did;

lTo work hand in hand with Fifa to produce the most successful World Cup to date - they did

lTo put aside their petty internal squabbles and focus all their energies on the task at hand - they did

Bafana Bafana:

lTo rise to the occasion - they did;

lTo make us proud - they did.

South African citizens:

lTo unite behind Bafana Bafana - we did;

lTo fly our flags -we did;

l To show our visitors true South African hospitality - we did;

lTo buy tickets and fill the stadiums - we did;

lWhen Ghana were the last African team standing, to support them - we did.

As you can see, all your requests were heeded and even exceeded.

Now that the World Cup is over, might I on behalf of the overwhelming majority of South Africans, sincerely ask some things of you Mr President:

lBuild on this momentum of nation building.

lAct against those people who seek to cause divisions among our people.

lRoot out corruption in all government departments and agencies.

lGuide us into a new era of personal and collective integrity.

lLead us to new heights of national pride?

and finally,

lAsk Safa to focus on development structures as a matter of urgency?

We all shared in the glory of the World Cup in our country. May every citizen (especially the poor) now share in the benefits that flow from it. May our children and all those who follow, point to this period in our nation's history and say, "That is where we became a winning nation."

Mr President, may you seize this moment and make us and our children, and all who follow, proud.

Please be assured of the support of the majority of South Africans as you strive to do this.

Peter Stathakis, Pretoria