With the vision of Nelson Mandela, the leadership of Francois Pienaar and the boot of Joel Stransky, the Springbok Rugby World Cup victory of 1995 helped the unification process of a deeply fractured host nation. Fifteen years on, the likelihood of a Bafana Bafana World Cup victory on turf spitting distance from Ellis Park, is nigh impossible. Last Saturday however, a new offensive of the pre-World Cup attempt at South African public unity took place, as the Blue Bulls rugby team beat the Christchurch Crusaders in the heart of football land; Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
Make no mistake; this was not simply a PR exercise. The Pretoria based club faced their confident New Zealand rivals in the semi-final of the Super 14 competition. Super 14, for those un-initiated, is the Champions League equivalent for Southern hemisphere rugby clubs, which only the cream of South African, Australian and New Zealand teams get to compete in. After winning the right to a semi-final home match, the Bulls vacationed from their fortress at Loftus Versfeld, which has inconveniently been requisitioned by FIFA in it’s preparations for the start of the World Cup finals.
What was remarkable about this game wasn’t just the result of the event, but the event itself. As shown in a local Sunday broadsheet the fact that the Bulls stylishly won, securing a chance of defending their Super 14 crown, was rewarded by a two lined mention on the back-pages. Whilst the event of Blue Bulls fans entering the near universally black populated township of Soweto secured a full feature.
South African Rugby and South African Football are racially defined by their supporters and players; rugby is white and football is black. Even soccer loving whites generally dismiss their domestic football league as an irrelevance, preferring to wear the colours of Chelsea or Liverpool over the Sundowns or Amazulu. Despite the iconic symbolism of Mandela’s rugby jersey at the birth of this new nation, with its short history and long memory, Rugby is still seen by the masses as a representation of apartheid oppression.
No club embodies this more than the Blue Bulls. Based a couple of kilometres from the former bastion of political apartheid, the Union Buildings, the Bulls are unquestionably an Afrikaans team heralding from the Afrikaaner capital.
As the Bulls fans entered Soweto to set up their ubiquitous pre-match ‘braai’ at the tailgates of their ‘bakkies’, they couldn’t have failed to notice the vastly different surroundings through the hazy familiarity of blue flags and face paint. Soweto, in contrast to white suburban Loftus, is a hive of black South African flavours both good and bad. The vibrant energy of Soweto is infectious, yet you don’t have to scratch deep to find huge swathes of corrugated iron dominated ‘informal settlements’ seeped in poverty and ensuing crime.
The ‘South Western Township’, set up on the outskirts of Johannesburg, as a sprawling and neglected black neighbourhood is immortalised in the struggle against apartheid. In 1955 the historic ANC freedom charter was adopted a stones throw from the Orlando Stadium in the Sowetan suburb of Kliptown. The iconic image that defined the 1976 Soweto uprising, of the body of 12 year old Hector Pieterson after being gunned down by the riot police, was taken close by in Orlando West.
In spite of pre-match statements by the organisers of this being a historic opportunity for Soweto to welcome such an alien sport from a neighbouring City, a sense of nervousness surrounded the build-up as 35,000 Bulls fans crossed into the unknown. This was the largest contingent of white Afrikaaner South Africans to ever enter Soweto, the second largest probably being the bulk of riot police sent in to break up anti-apartheid riots not so long ago.
Some suggested that the visiting fans would roll up the windows of their 4x4’s, peering out at Soweto as if they were on a game drive at nearby Kruger National game reserve. Others predicted that the stadium would be half empty, with most fans preferring to watch from the familiar safety of their cosy homes. It was said that Sowetans would view the Bulls fans with confusion at best, and open conflict at worst.
What unfolded was a triumph for South African sport, Sowetan hospitality and the Bulls travelling fans. In a country where simmering issues over race relations frequently threatens to boil over, last Saturday was a potential cauldron. Instead, Bulls fans embraced local food and fare, and even the vuvuzela’s that will no doubt define next months World Cup. In response, Soweto threw open it’s arms and welcomed the visiting fans with handfuls of Bunny Chow and Castle beer. Local media this week has been full of positive reflections on the event, from all perspectives.
The four way clash of Black, White, Rugby and Football collided to create a festive occasion that the architects of this ‘Rainbow Nation’ would be proud of. As the build up to the World Cup progresses, a step has been taken in bridging racial barriers and stereotypes that have been characterised by ingrained sporting tribalism.
The Bull-run into Soweto showed an increase in mutual respect of sporting preferences. Much of the South African nation is standing firmly behind Bafana Bafana regardless of their race or sport allegiance. Flags are adorning cars and fluttering from bars, and national football shirts are flying out of shops. ‘Football Friday’ has been a roaring success as everyone from taxi drivers, to bank clerks to President Zuma adorn the Bafana Bafana shirt in support of the national team at the end of each working week.
This Saturday, Soweto has the chance to shine again as it plays host to Rugby for a second time and helps play a role in increasing racial cohesion. The all South African Super 14 final gives the Cape Town based Stormers a chance to sample new frontiers, but the home advantage has to be with the Bulls playing in the now familiar Orlando Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment