South Africa denied on Wednesday it bribed Fifa officials with $10m to secure votes for its successful bid to host the 2010 World Cup, insisting the payment was “above board”. Fikile Mbalula, the sports minister, also admitted he was “shocked” by the resignation of Fifa’s president, Sepp Blatter. He said Blatter “has been a good friend of South Africa” and “history will remember him” for bringing the World Cup to Africa for the first time. The country is no stranger to corruption scandals but has been shaken by a case that strikes at the heart of national and continental pride. South Africa treasures the moment when its former president Nelson Mandela stood hand in hand with Blatter and the bid leader, Danny Jordaan after it was announced as 2010 host. It then defied global scepticism to pull off a well-run tournament. Now one of the most high-profile success stories in the post-apartheid era is at risk of being tarnished. “We won the bid clean,” Mbalula told a press conference in Johannesburg. “We had our Madiba [Mandela’s clan name], we had the bishop [Desmond Tutu], we had the spirit of our people, we had the world. After all, it was Africa’s…