The Springboks are poised to tie up the 2024 Rugby Championship against the Argentinian Pumas over the next fortnight most likely undefeated, barring of course a repeat of the South Americans’ dogged triumph against both the All Blacks and Wallabies a few weeks earlier.
For South Africans this success story has been sustained since the Rugby World Cup final win over England in Japan in November 2019, and for the first time in rugby history a back-to-back World Cup win in France in October 2024, in addition to the two World Cup wins in 1995 and 2007, making South Africa the only country in the world to win four World Cups.
It is only natural for this rugby feel good factor to permeate the country – a much-needed relief, or some would say, a temporary antidote to the governance chaos the country has been subjected to over the last decade, defined by an entrenched cost-of-living-crisis, mismanagement, corruption, and growing inequality which has made a mockery of Desmond Tutu’s aspirational Rainbow Nation, now regarded as the most unequal society in the world.
If “success breeds success” then surely the Springbok transformation and development model should serve as a template for the country’s socio-economic sectors, which for manifold reasons have in general dismally failed to deliver on the promises and aspirations of a liberated South Africa under the stewardship of the dominant ANC.
Despite the antagonism and opprobrium directed by a minority of ANC and other radicals who erroneously saw rugby and the globally revered Springbok emblem as symbols of white supremacy, a “white man’s sport” and therefore a continuation of apartheid sports, it was Madiba, like Steve Biko earlier, who understood the importance of rugby in the South African psyche and its potential for post-apartheid reconciliation and social cohesion.
The reality is that rugby has always been our national sport – yes brutally and unfairly segregated for over a century thanks to the misguided race theories of colonialism and apartheid.
The true history of South African rugby reflects a mesmerising montage of the prodigious and sustained Black, Coloured and Cape Malay contribution to the development of non-racial rugby as a sober, dogged and dignified alternative to the whites-only dispensation.
The official data today shows that of all the sports, rugby by far has shown the most remarkable transformation under the metrics of the various Government programmes, albeit even this transformation remains a work in progress in terms of greater grassroot township and rural accessibility and the cost of kit and transport, when the priorities of most families are feeding, educating and providing primary health care for their children.
Many friends from abroad cannot understand why South African rugby is so dominant and feared in the face of such adversity. The reality is that, like our Constitution and Bill of Rights, Springbok rugby transformation is probably one of the most progressive in the world, encompassing the best-of-its-kind schools-oriented Craven Week, the Junior Springboks, the Springbok A and B teams – all aspiring to reach that holy grail of the coveted full Springbok cap resplendent with its green and gold blazer.
Talk about social mobility, the Springboks are the very epitome of rugby upward mobility, which exacts that extra bit of commitment, confidence, enthusiasm and self-belief, which stood them in great stead in holding their nerve to win the 2023 World Cup quarter final, semi-final and final, each by a solitary point.
Who can forget Siya Kolisi lifting the William Webb Ellis trophy in Yokahama and four years later in Paris in successive World Cup finals?
This kaalvoet klonkie from the townships of Zwide in the Eastern Cape, spotted by a scout, progressing to a prestigious boarding school, advancing to playing for and captaining the Stormers, before becoming the first Black Springbok captain to lift the World Cup – is underpinned by his much repeated and perhaps naïve quote that “your past does not determine your future.”
This transformation could not be complete without Dr Rassie Erasmus, the Supreme Innovator of South African rugby, and probably in world rugby. In rugby, Rassie has gelled the true spirit of reconciliation and diversity of the Rainbow Nation not in a World of Union but a National Sport of Union.
His perspicacity in appointing Siya as Springbok captain transcends the race symbolism, because it was based on merit, instead of the ill-advised political demands of the dreaded quota system. All this alongside an award-winning Blitzbok rugby sevens outfit and SA Rugby’s commitment and development of the women’s game. For all these initiatives the powers that be should also be commended for their support for Rassie and Siya.
In this netherworld of the ‘Brotherhood of the Oval Ball’ too, terms such as the “Os”, “Beast”, “Ox”, “Stompie” and the “Bomb Squad”, from being epithets of abuse and terror, are terms of endearment to millions of besotted rugby fans.
One thing remains clear – every Springbok win instils a greater sense of pride in South Africans of all colours. Reports of emigres returning to the Beloved Country are not over-exaggerated.
The Rassie and Siya Double Act however beckons the question: “What are the chances of the Springbok dividend permeating to other Sectors of the South African Socio-economy?” The feel good factor after every Springbok tournament triumph is inevitably short-lived, as South Africans are eventually forced out of their euphoria and back to the realities of the hardships of their everyday lives.
Whether the National Treasury or the South African Investment Conference have assessed any data on the monetisation of Springbok achievements on the rugby field to the real economy is doubtful.
But now investment firms such as Corion Capital have linked Springbok supremacy on the rugby field to rising asset prices in the South African capital markets and positive sentiment among investors, especially in the wake of Amabokoboko’s double triumph against Australia and New Zealand, and the emergence of an exciting pool of next generation talent headed by the new pin-up boy of South African rugby, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Investors tend to love future trends. If they are negative, then they will shy away and become risk averse. If they are positive, they will revel in an orgy of market speculation, hype, product “innovation” and over-valuation – the very basis of the international capitalist financial markets.
The challenge is how to match Springbok dominance on the field, its unifying power, awesome reputation and brute strength, with the real demands of economic stability, growth and narrowing the gap of inequalities.
The ball is squarely in the court of the GNU!
Parker is a writer based in London