How Rugby helped unite South Africa
Speaking at the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards, Nelson Mandela, declared that:
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”
Nelson Mandela, a sports fan, believed that sports had the power to unite black and white South Africans.
In Yokohama, Japan, on November 2nd, 2019, South Africa beat England convincingly to lift the Webb Ellis Cup. The Springboks have won the Rugby World Cup before. They’ve already done it twice, in 1995 and 2007. This time, the trophy was hoisted by Siya Kolisi, the first black captain of the South African Rugby team.
Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, would have been ecstatic with this outcome. If not for him the Springbok’s wouldn't have even existed and the game’s popularity in South Africa would have ended by the mid-’90s.
A divided nation
1994, South Africa
Apartheid had just ended and South Africa’s first multi-racial election with full enfranchisement was held. The African National Congress won a 63% share of the vote at the election, and Mandela, as leader of the ANC, was inaugurated on 10 May 1994 as the country’s first Black President, with the National Party’s F.W. de Klerk as his first deputy and Thabo Mbeki as the second in the Government of National Unity.
Large groups of Black South Africans, who had been oppressed politically, socially, and economically for decades, yearned for vengeance. Fearing retaliation, the Whites decided to flee the nation.
Mandela was well aware of the ramifications. He saw that the best way to secure South Africa’s success was to create a rainbow nation. He not only forgave those who had held him captive for almost 26 years, but he also encouraged his followers to do so. They were not, however, so generous.
His followers wanted to abolish all institutions that reminded them of Apartheid.
Rugby was one of them.
The Rainbow Nation
Before the Rugby World Cup in 1995, Rugby was a game exclusively played by the White Afrikaner minority, Black South Africans preferred football. In fact, they were so anti-rugby that they only attended to watch the game to cheer on the side that was playing against South Africa.
When the Springboks’ names and colours were being considered for removal after Mandela took office, he intervened to prevent the move. Taking away things important to Afrikaners’ hearts, he said, would only heighten their uneasiness and obstruct the creation of a rainbow nation.
He didn’t stop there. When he learned that South Africa would be hosting the Rugby World Cup for the first time in 1995, he had an audacious idea: use rugby to unify the country.
Mandela’s colleagues scoffed at the concept. But his height was such that their reservations were scarcely audible. He gained a greater understanding of the game and formed a long relationship with Francois Pienaar, the Springboks’ captain at the time. He tore down the barrier between the team and the Blacks.
He publicly backed the squad, sending a strong message that the Springboks should be supported by all South Africans, not just whites.
That the team played well in the World Cup helped, as interest in the game spread across Black communities.
Triumph
South Africa reached the final and was due to face New Zealand.
South Africa’s players were getting ready when their changing room door was knocked on. Nelson Mandela came in wearing a Springbok jersey with captain Francois Pienaar’s number six on the back as the door flew open.
Mandela, who had been elected a year before, was wearing the captain’s shirt on June 24, 1995, but he had a particular message for winger Chester Williams, the team’s sole player of colour.
Mandela told Williams, “I’m proud of you, Make the rest of South Africa proud too.”
When the Springboks defeated New Zealand in the finals and jubilation erupted across South Africa, it was apparent that Mandela had triumphed. The victory was celebrated with a parade in the streets by the blacks. Mandela was beaming as he delivered the trophy to Pienaar, dressed in Springbok colours and a hat.
On that day, the Springboks ceased to be the property of Afrikaners and became the pride of South Africa. There was only one black player on the team in 1995. There are a lot of them now, including captain Siya Kolisi.
When it comes to rugby, Mandela achieved his ambition of creating a rainbow nation.
