Further to my last missive, it now seems that 465 000 people have visited SA for the Fifa event (State figures).

Having just sent the latest issue to the printer - No. 218 July / August - I’m thinking yet again about the Fifa World Cup and what it could have/ might have / will bring to this country. 

With the 2010 Soccer World Cup upon us – and two epic rugby matches played in Orlando Stadium, Soweto in May – the patriotic unity among South Africans is likely at an all time high, since the post-Mandela election period.

This new website – and the variety of options it offers – is something of a milestone in Habitat’s development, albeit 37 years of existence in South Africa.

In this first issue of 2010, our annual focus feature examines architecture in South Africa, it’s somewhat tarnished recent history, the high points of the new millennium and the way forward in an incrementally eco-conscious society.

Hugh Masekela – an exceptional man, whom I am fortunate enough to count as a friend – said to Jennifer Crwys-Williams recently, in an interview on Talk Radio 702: ‘If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you’re not going anywhere’. Wise words indeed and particularly so in terms of this youthful country of ours; South Africa.