This weekend the Springboks will play Wales for a place in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final. Many expect them to win, where they will then meet the winners of the match between New Zealand and England.
The Springboks have played in two World Cup Finals since their re-admission into the International sporting arena, and they have won both. The last time in 2007, and the first time in an unforgettable final as the hosts in 1995.
The 1995 final is remembered for so many reasons. It is remembered for the South African President Nelson Mandela, who had served 27 years in prison under the Apartheid regime walking onto the pitch wearing the shirt of the Springbok Captain, white Afrikaaner Francios Pienaar. It was a masterstroke in reconciliation.
Mandela, had previously fought his ANC colleagues to have the national Rugby team, for so long the team of “white South Africa,” keep the Springbok name and logo. His rationalisation being that now that the ANC was a recognised political party and Blacks had a say, it was not right to strip white South Africa of everything that was dear to them. That would cause a backlash.
Mandela knew what he was doing. There was still tension at his appointment as the first Black President. There were still people who did not want to let go of the past and move forward. This was evidenced at that World Cup Final where some chose to fly the old South African flag.
As a sports fan and an athlete, Mandela knew the power of sport. In fact he and his ANC colleagues used sport on Robben Island to prepare themselves for when they were released and were given the opportunity to run the country. They ran a football league in the prison and used the FIFA rules and regulations to instil discipline, regulation and leadership.
Mandela used sport to promote peace as well as to bring justice. During his years in prison he supported the international boycotts of South African teams at major sporting events across the world. South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games from 1964 till 1992 and was also banned by a number of different international federations, including eventually FIFA and those running World Rugby at the time.
There is a misconception that Mandela wearing the shirt of Francois Pienaar was solely to appease white South Africans. It wasn’t. Mandela faced a far more important uphill battle with black supporters too, including many within the ANC.
These supporters of the ANC had grown up hating rugby, the old anthem, the old flag and even more so the green Springbok shirt, as they were symbols of the white South African Apartheid movement. Mandela saw an opportunity to establish the Springboks as the team for all. A team that all South Africans could be proud of. It was not going to be an easy task especially with their being just one non-white player in the side, in the recently passed away Chester Williams.
Mandela wearing Pienaar’s shirt, the predominately white crowd chanting Mandela’s name, South Africa making the final, and beating the unbeatable All Blacks has become one of the most iconic moments in sport. A pivotal moment in reconciliation.
Sport is ultimately about competition, but Mandela proved that sport is also about about bringing people together.
One has to wonder what he would make of South Africa today. Mandela passed away six years ago aged 95.
The Springbok emblem was retained at Mandela’s insistence, but has since undergone a number of iterations. It has also now been shifted to the right side of the chest on the jersey, with the protea now on the left.
Siya Kolisi has been appointed the 61st Springbok captain and is leading his team at the World Cup. He has proved to be a great leader and diplomat. Yet many close to the game in South Africa have said that regrettably the thing still holding the sport back is the culture within the sport. The criticisms raised claim that it isn’t as inclusive and embracing of different cultures as it should be.
This is extremely sad news to sports fans within South Africa, and outside the country as well. It is clear however that Rugby is not alone in terms of a sporting body embracing the different cultures.
The Apartheid regime ended in April 1994. In 1999 a quota system was adopted to ensure that the sporting landscape within the “Rainbow nation” represented all. It was not without controversy, but after 46 years of isolation something had to be done to ensure that there was integration and equal opportunity.
The original quota system which was aimed to increase the participation in Rugby and Cricket, two sports played predominantly by the white population, was scrapped in 2007 and a new one adopted in 2011. In cricket for example, Cricket South Africa has a strict quota system at domestic level where all franchise teams are required to field at least six players of colour in their starting XIs, with three players required to be black Africans.
In March of this year the Solidarity Trade Union in South Africa challenged the quota system opposing the transformation policy, and went to the Johannesburg Labour Court to have it overturned. It was reported that they contended that the Policy and Quota system was against the provision of the constitution, and was strictly against the employment laws.
Werner Human, Solidarity’s legal expert, told AFP, “Ultimately we would wish to have a sporting environment which is more depoliticised (and) focus can truly be on talent.”
Sprinboks Captain Siya Kolisi also caused outrage in the first half of the year when he said he did not believe the country’s iconic former president Nelson Mandela would have backed quotas for the national team.
He was quoted as saying racial imbalances could only be fixed by developing sport from the grassroots. “I would not want to be picked because of my skin colour because that surely would not be good for the team,” he said.
Just last month All Blacks Coach Steve Hanson caused more upset when he stated in an interview with Peter Bills in the recently published book” The Jersey: The Secrets Behind the World’s Most Successful Team.”
‘They are the only team in sport I know that doesn’t pick its best team,’ said Hansen of the Springboks. ‘I understand what they are trying to do but … Nelson Mandela understood it better than anyone else. He knew that the Springboks was a team that could unite the nation. I still believe it is. If they got things right and allowed it to develop naturally, it would. And you would get the right people in the team. In the end, it would be a multi-cultural team. Rugby wasn’t a black man’s sport, but it was the sport that would unify the country in a way that no other sport or business could. Now I think that unity isn’t there so much. As a nation, it has got such a lively history and it has created a whole lot of things we will never understand, because we were never part of it. There is a lot of ill-feeling. But the thing they don’t want to fall into is actually reversing that.”
They say that Politics and sport should never mix, but there are many International sporting bodies who will not tolerate the interference of politicians when it comes to the governance of that sport. Yet interestingly these International bodies have remained very quiet over the current situation in South Africa.
One can see that no one wants to impose another International ban on the country, as that would be devastating on so many levels. However something has to be done to create a fair and competitive landscape for all.
Apartheid ended 25 years ago. That means that a whole generation has been born in the New South Africa, grown up in schools that are not segregated, and played and worked alongside people of all colours and religions. This generation probably better than any will know what is best moving forward. Maybe they should be give a voice?
At the current Rugby World Cup in Japan once again South Africa, like the island nations, sees many South African born players wearing the colours of other nations. In fact there are 11 South African born players playing for other nations; Almost another complete side. That is incredibly sad for South African fans, rugby fans and no doubt some of those players. Sad that they have left for pastures new because they knew that the opportunities within their homeland were limited.
Many sports fans outside South Africa, agree with Siya Kolisi, they agree with Steve Hanson and they agree with the Solidarity Trade Union.
By all means have an inclusive system in terms of your national squads and development programs but come match day and World Championships you must pick your best team. For it is the results of that team that will see the nation rise up as one, as we saw in 1995.
As Mandela once said: “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.”
Is sport in South Africa living up to those words today? Maybe this World Cup will be the catalyst for change. For us sports fans let us hope that is the case, and we see the best of South Africa contesting every major event.
