It is small, provincial, and absolute evidence that either of those Australia towns could be considered capable of hosting a World Cup match anytime in the future.
I visited last week for Australia's ill-fated match against Serbia.
The day before the game I took what some locals considered to be a foolish decision – walking from the house I was staying in to a nearby shopping mall.
This suburb seemed reasonably affluent as Nelspruit demographics go.
You could tell there was some money in the neighbourhood because the houses were large, their well-kept lawns were attended by gardeners, and all were bordered by tall bricks walls or electric fences.
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“Trespassers will be shot” insisted one sign posted on a driveway gate.
“Are you tourists?” asked a local woman, pulling up alongside me in her four wheel drive. She was puzzled.
I am white. I was walking.
I was taking photos of the signs as later evidence of life, for some, in South Africa.
“You shouldn't be walking and you shouldn't let anyone see your cameras or mobile phone,” she advised.
Later that night in a bar – walking distance from “home” again – some Australian supporters decided to endear themselves to locals by singing a beery version of Advance Australia Fair.
The regulars, being for the most part a friendly lot, hit back with a retaliatory rendition of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, South Africa's anthem.
It was the perfect antidote to the earlier warning.
But just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you, apparently.
A few days after Australia's World Cup elimination, news filtered out that five Australians were among nine people robbed at a Nelspruit hotel after the game.
One person was also reported to have been sexually assaulted and another claimed $10,000 worth of personal items had been stolen.
South Africa's many faces, all in one 24-hour period.
But don't think such complexities are exclusively South African problems or just for this World Cup.
A Brazilian friend has been following her national team across the country.
She loves South Africa. The reason?
It's just like Brazil, which will host this same tournament in four years time.
“There's bad traffic, crime, pollution, you can get mugged, you have to pay people to watch your car in a parking lot, there's really rich areas where houses have armed guards, there's favellas, barbecues, parties, and the people are really friendly,” she gushed, all without taking a breath.
“I love it.”
She was right, of course.
So, maybe, bring on 2014.
On every level.
