sending...In a few days the world will be introduced to perhaps the most important “personality” on the South African Football team. Zakumi, the South African team mascot is a leopard, designed and produced exclusively in the host country. The name is a composition of “ZA”, standing for South Africa, and “kumi” translating into “10″ in various languages across Africa.
“Zakumi represents the people, geography and spirit of South Africa, personifying in essence the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We are certain we will have a lot of fun with him in the lead-up to and during the FIFA World Cup,” said FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke.
“Zakumi is a proud South African and, as such, an ideal ambassador for the first African World Cup. He was born in 1994, the same year as the country’s democracy. He is young, energetic, smart and ambitious, a real inspiration for young and old, not only in our country,” explained Danny Jordan, the Head of the South African World Cup organising committee
