The Soweto parade
By Guillaume Mahot
The Springboks are off on the rounds. Freshly disembarked from their Tokyo flight, the new world champions of rugby, who defeated England 32-12 in the Yokohama final of last Saturday, wish to make every single person of South Africa enjoy the Webb Ellis trophy.
The situation in Nelson Mandela’s country, where racial tensions are still part of the daily life in spite of the end of the apartheid (1948-1991), is expected to be appeased with a victory supposed to unify the country and both skin colors.
Siya Kolisi, the first black captain of the Boks, was captured by thousands of smartphones holding the trophy and showing it to the massive crowd while on the parade bus. Surrounded by his coach Rassie Erasmus and all his teammates except for Handre Pollard, about to be hospitalized (eye), the one who is considered as a genuine symbol of reunification in a sport that used to be dominated by white people is starting a national tour that will make the Springboks travel all across the country to display the golden cup: Pretoria, Johannesburg, Soweto, Durban, East London, Port-Elizabeth and Cape Town.
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Worthy of the Beatles! And Cheslin Kolbe’s fellows even visited South African president Cyril Ramaphosa in Union Buildings. The celebrations will last until next Monday.
Just like in France last year with the 2018 football world cup, where we could witness so many people congratulating one another in the streets and not worrying about any age, sex or skin color, South Africa is hoping to find back peace thanks to sport, a message that is often successfully conveyed but has difficulties to last for long. Emotions are instantaneous and the first days of a victory tend to make everything beautiful, but reality quickly shows its face and the same issues, once forgotten, do not vanish. Sport can make great things, but it is not its job to develop a country and its mentalities, even though politics is sometimes convinced that it is.
Africa Global News Publication
