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Soweto to welcome World Cup winning Springboks

rugby07 November 2019 05:46| © AFP
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Springboks © Gallo Images

A national tour by Rugby World Cup winners the Springboks begins on Thursday and one of the first stops will be Soweto, a township near Johannesburg where they were once hated.

Three decades ago, as black nationalists fought apartheid regime brutality, South Africa's national rugby team was viewed as a symbol of Afrikaner aggression.

"Sowetans used to say the Springboks were the (governing) National Party at play," recalled Bongani Dlamini, a long-time Soweto resident and retired teacher, in an interview with AFP.

"For black people, the rugby team came to symbolise the arrogance of Afrikaner power. They despised the Springboks.

"Many Sowetans are proud wearers of Springbok (replica) shirts today – 30 years ago anyone foolish enough to wear one would have put their life at risk.

"The Springboks owe a debt of gratitude to (deceased former state president) Nelson Mandela. He changed the way we viewed the team."

Dlamini will cheer the Springboks on Thursday as they drive through Soweto in an open-top bus and believes many others will do likewise.

"The first sporting love of the people is football with the two most popular clubs in the country (Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates) from here.

"But there has never been more interest in rugby than now. Our national football and cricket teams keep letting us down while the Springboks succeed and offer hope.

"What I want to see is continuity. Black players must be given equal opportunities. That is all we ask. I have no time for racial quotas, just fair selections.

"The captain (Siya Kolisi) and the coach (Rassie Erasmus) have spoken wisely since the final. I pray that our politicians are listening."

RACIAL SEGREGATION

Just months after becoming the first democratically elected president of the republic in 1994, Mandela successfully fought to save the Springboks name and emblem.

Elements within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) wanted a name dating back decades and the emblem of the leaping Springbok banished because of its racist past.

For 90 years from the first time the team played in 1891, the South African national rugby team chose only white players.

There was even segregation among black players, who were divided into Black African and Coloured (mixed race) leagues with no international participation.

Mandela, desperate to unite all South Africans after the divisiveness of apartheid, backed the Springboks in the build-up to the 1995 World Cup, which South Africa hosted.

His gamble worked with the Springboks defeating arch rivals New Zealand 15-12 in a thrilling final watched by a capacity 63 000 crowd crammed into Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Mandela arrived at the ground in a replica of the shirt worn by Springboks captain Francois Pienaar and the predominantly white crowd chanted "Nelson, Nelson, Nelson".

But amid the euphoria of lifting the trophy at the first attempt, pleas by Mandela and government ministers for a racially balanced Springboks team were ignored.

Only one black player, winger Chester Williams, who died two months ago, was in the 1995 side and two black wingers, JP Pietersen and Bryan Habana, made the 2007 World Cup-winning side.

As the years passed, it seemed black players were only being considered for the two wing positions. There was no sign of a black forward gaining recognition.

- Painfully slow -

Eventually, prop Tendai 'The Beast' Mtawarira, who retired this week having won 117 caps, forced his way into the team regularly, but racial transformation was painfully slow.

Even the first two black Springbok coaches, Peter de Villiers and Allister Coetzee, persisted with teams that did not reflect a country whose population was 90 percent black.

Erasmus, an Afrikaner and former Springbok forward, succeeded the struggling Coetzee last year and vowed to "act rather than talk" when it came to giving black stars equal opportunities.

His legacy was the side that outplayed England 32-12 last Saturday in Japan to give the Springboks a record-equalling third World Cup title.

Kolisi is black, so were five other starters, and there was yet another on the bench for a total of seven in a matchday squad of 23.

Not quite the 11 blacks promised by SA Rugby to the government some years ago, but when colour is no longer a Springbok issue, Erasmus will be remembered as the man who smashed the mould.

The coach who celebrated his 47th birthday this week has conceded that the goodwill generated by the 1995 and 2007 World Cup triumphs came to nought and must not happen again.

Speaking just minutes after arriving home, he said "I want to see blacks and whites and people of different religions and beliefs working together and getting it right".

After stops in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto Thursday, the Springboks move to Durban (Friday), East London (Saturday), Port Elizabeth (Sunday) and, finally, Cape Town (Monday).

SPRINGBOKS TROPHY TOUR

GAUTENG ROUTE (Thursday)

Pretoria:

08h30 to 09h30: Union Building South Lawns
09h30: Parade starts in an easterly direction down Stanza Bopape Street
Right into End Street
Right into Pretorius Street in a westerly direction
Left into Gordon Street (which becomes Jan Shoba Street)
Right into Burnett Street
Left into Park Street
Left into Kirkness Street, past Loftus Versfeld
Right into Jorissen Street (becomes Kotze Street, A Reyeng route into Nana Sita)
Right into Paul Kruger Street and around Church Square
Right into Madiba Street
10h30 to 11h00 Stop at Tshwane House and then depart to Johannesburg

Johannesburg and Soweto:

14h00: Parade starts at 1 Jan Smuts Avenue in Braamfontein to Metro Centre and across the Nelson Mandela Bridge
Onto FNB Bank City in Simmonds Street
Onto Nasrec Road past Riverley and to the FNB Stadium
South to Ben Naude Street
Left into Immink Road
Right into Chris Hani Street past Maponya Mall
Right into Klipspruit Valley Road
Left into Kumalo Main Road and left into Vilakazi Street and onto the Hector Pieterson Memorial
From approximately 15h45 to 16h15: past Orlando Stadium

DURBAN ROUTE (Friday)

09h15: Tour starts on Centenary Boulevard in Umhlanga
Right onto Umhlanga Rocks Drive
Then onto the M41 and the M2
Take the Curnick Ndlovu Highway offramp and make a right towards Mount Moriah
Left onto the M577
Right onto Queen Nandi Drive
Left on Amanzimtoti Road
Approximately 09h30: drive past KwaMashu Station
Right onto Malendela Road
Right onto Queen Nandi Drive over M577
Right onto R102 Chris Hani Road
Onto Riverside Road towards the M4 Ruth First Highway
South onto the M4 Ruth First Highway and onto Stalwart Simelane Street, which becomes Florence Nzama Street
Right onto Anton Lambede Street
Approximately 10h30: Mayoral visit stop at Durban City Hall
11h00: Depart City Hall via Anton Lambede Street
Right onto Brooke Road
Right onto Dr Pixley Kaseme Street to OR Tambo Parade and turn left
North via Battery Beach Road

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