'SPRINGBOKS CANNOT BE WHITEWASHED'

While South Africa’s rugby players have enjoyed a heroes’ welcome on their return home, is it right to celebrate their record fourth World Cup triumph unconditionally? Not everyone thinks so. And the reason is summed up in this speech from 2019.

The Springboks had just won their third World Cup and politician Mbuyiseni Ndlozi fumed it was done with only a handful of Black players. Hardly reflective of the country’s demographics, where 80 per cent are Blacks.

Forward to today and the stats are better - but just over half the Springboks are still White. For a lot of people, progress hasn't come fast enough. After all, it’s nearly thirty years since the end of apartheid when Blacks were banned from playing rugby and the national side refused to compete against teams that fielded non-Whites.

As Ndlozi mentions, there are more Black rugby players in Eastern Cape than Whites in South Africa.
Put like that, it’s difficult to argue the sport’s race problem has been properly fixed.

In the post-apartheid-era, laws may not prevent players of colour from donning the green and gold jersey, but social-economic barriers can. The Springboks’ victory in France gave South Africans something to celebrate amid incessant power outages, soaring unemployment and crime levels. But for many, calling it a victory for a new 'representative ' South Africa is a sidestep too far.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Is he being to harsh or right on the money?