"Sport has the power to change the
world," Nelson Mandela once said -- and the South African
prisoner-turned-president also provided perhaps the most eloquent supporting
evidence for his claim.
"It has the power to
inspire," he said. "It has the power to unite people in a way that
little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It
is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers."
That last sentence was the closest
Mandela came to referencing his own role in using sport to unify South Africa,
a country that had been separated by skin color and the warped political
ideology of apartheid for nearly half a century by the time he became its first
black president in 1994.
A year after winning South Africa's
first multiracial elections, and five years after his release from prison after
nearly three decades of incarceration for his anti-apartheid activities, the
then-African National Congress leader revealed his acute political antennae as
South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
I have always believed that
exercise is a key not only to physical health, but to peace of mind. Exercise
dissipates tension, and tension is the enemy of serenity.
Nelson
Mandela
The sport had long been seen as the
white man's game in South Africa, and many non-whites identified the national
team, the Springboks, as being synonymous with minority rule. The team's
antelope emblem had been proudly worn by the country's whites-only sporting
teams during apartheid.
As the onetime pariah state found
itself in the unusual position of welcoming the world, there were widespread
fears of a racial bloodbath. Some groups were keen to avenge the years of
racial oppression, while some right-wing whites were plotting violent protests
against the new black majority rule.
Despite their readmission in 1992 to
international rugby, after years of apartheid-enforced sporting isolation,
South Africa used home advantage so well that the debutants reached the World
Cup final.
The sporting, political and human drama
was told in John Carlin's book "Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a
Nation" and was made into the movie "Invictus," with Morgan
Freeman playing Mandela.
Carlin tells the story of the moment on
the day of the final when white South Africans took a man they once considered
a terrorist into their hearts.
"The day's crowning moment came
before the game had even begun, when Mandela went out onto the field, before a
crowd of 65,000 that was 95% white, wearing the green Springbok jersey, the old
symbol of oppression, beloved of his apartheid jailers," he wrote.
"There was a moment of
jaw-dropping disbelief, a sharp collective intake of breath, and suddenly the
crowd broke into a chant, which grew steadily louder, of 'Nelson! Nelson!
Nelson!'"
Two hours later, the day's images
adopted iconic status as the "Rainbow Nation" beat New Zealand to win
the tournament, precipitating widespread celebrations, increased harmony and a
mixture of both pride and hope to a South Africa in desperate need of
reconciliation.
The photo of team captain Francois
Pienaar receiving the trophy from Mandela, who was wearing the No. 6 jersey
associated with the Springboks' Afrikaner skipper, now takes a place of pride
at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.
Nonetheless, Dr. Ashwin Desai, a
university lecturer, sociologist and specialist in South Africa's racial
history, believes that the impact of the moment was short-lived and began to
crumble within a few months of the final.
"The Rainbow Nation and Mandela's
legacy was supposed to be about the erosion of racial categories, but that has
not happened," said Desai. "This idea that sport can harmonize a
nation is a cliché that South Africans use -- but we also know that sport can
divide. The kindest thing to say about the dream of the Rainbow Nation is that
it has been deferred -- more realistically though, the dream has been
shattered. What we have now is deepening racial division, with racial
categories being pre-eminent again."
Yet one of the most celebrated pages in
modern race relations would never have been written had Mandela not saved the
Springbok emblem, which was labeled "deeply offensive" by the National
Sport Council in the mid-1990s because of its use in the racially divisive
past.
Recognizing that whites had lost both
their national flag and the elevated status of their national anthem, Mandela
understood their need to retain some identity -- and so the pacifier persuaded
his colleagues that the Springboks' survival was key to building the new South
Africa.
The presence of Mandela when we
were making our (World Cup) bid was very, very powerful ... there had to be an
extra player on the team -- and certainly the major game-changer was Mandela.
Dr.
Ashwin Desai, specialist in South Africa's racial history
Mandela won the argument despite the
Springboks' history of breaking the international sporting ban that the ANC had
successfully forced on many South African teams during apartheid.
Even though he had backed the boycott
from his prison cell on Robben Island, Mandela was aware of the sacrifices
imposed on his nation's best sportsmen.
"I wanted my people to know that I
became president sooner because of the sacrifices made by our athletes during
the years of the boycott," he replied when asked why he was at a soccer
match involving South Africa, rather than a politically themed event, shortly
after his inauguration in May 1994.
Two years later, Mandela and South
Africa repeated the trick -- this time with soccer, the game that was the main
preserve of the country's black community.
With Mandela now draped in the football
jersey, South Africa used home soil to win the Africa Cup of Nations, the
continent's premier football event, at the first time of asking.
Yet Mandela's true football legacy came
when South Africa was awarded the honor of staging the 2010 World Cup finals,
beating favorites Morocco 14-10 in the final vote.
"The presence of Mandela when we
were making our bid was very, very powerful," said Desai. "We were up
against some big, powerful nations, such as Morocco and Egypt, so to beat off
Morocco meant there had to be an extra player on the team -- and certainly the
major game-changer was Mandela."
"It is thanks to Mandela that the
world could finally trust us to deliver this event at a world class
level," Danny Jordaan told the FIFA website. "He gave us a momentum
and self-belief that we could achieve what many thought was impossible and we,
and this country, will be forever grateful."
Despite a personal tragedy on the eve
of the finals -- his great-granddaughter Zenani, 13, died in a car crash --
Mandela was ultimately rewarded with a tournament that shone with color, originality
and, to widespread surprise outside South Africa, fine organization.
Within Africa, many said they felt an
increased sense of belonging as the football World Cup, which dates back to
1930, finally arrived in Africa -- the first time the continent had hosted a
global event on the scale of the Olympics.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter hailed
Mandela as an "extraordinary person" on Thursday and recalled the
ecstatic scenes at the 2010 World Cup's closing ceremony in what proved to be
Mandela's final public appearance.
"When he was honored and cheered
by the crowd at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium on 11 July 2010, it was as a
man of the people, a man of their hearts, and it was one of the most moving
moments I have ever experienced. For him, the World Cup in South Africa truly
was 'a dream come true,'" Blatter said in a statement on FIFA's website.
"Nelson Mandela will stay in our
hearts forever. The memories of his remarkable fight against oppression, his
incredible charisma and his positive values will live on in us and with
us."
Former South African international,
Lucas Radebe also paid a moving tribute.
"The sports history books in South
Africa will show statistics and victories. What they won't show, however, was
that it was Madiba Magic that forged those results and performances; and united
a country and its people along the way. No doubt, that Madiba Magic will live
on. Thank you Tata," Radebe wrote on his website.
This sense of belonging is one that
Mandela maintained with his foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund,
which started the Sport for Good program with the aim of using sport as a way
of improving the lives of children in both South Africa and Swaziland.
This sporting philosophy had served
Mandela himself exceptionally well during his time in prison. In his biography,
"A Long Walk to Freedom," he explained how he followed a highly
disciplined exercise regime in a bid to stay both physically and mentally
healthy.
"I have always believed that
exercise is a key not only to physical health, but to peace of mind,"
wrote the once-keen boxer and long-distance runner. "Exercise dissipates
tension, and tension is the enemy of serenity."
"In prison, having an outlet for
my frustrations was absolutely essential. Even on the island, I attempted to
follow my old boxing routine of doing roadwork and muscle-building from Monday
to Thursday and then resting for the next three days."
The efficacy of his discipline -- which
also included 45 minutes of running "on the spot in my cell" and
extensive anaerobic exercise four times a week -- was clear to see in the
energy he brought to life as a free man -- keeping together the fragile, new
South Africa, visiting world leaders and becoming one of the political icons of
our time.
After 27 years behind bars, where he
was allowed just one visitor a year, perhaps it was only fair that the world
then came to visit Mandela in later years -- with Pele, Muhammad Ali, Joe
Frazier, Alex Ferguson, Tiger Woods and David Beckham prominent among the
sporting luminaries to meet the icon.
Like the wider world, sport is unlikely
to forget Mandela, not just because of the tournaments and stadiums already
named in his honor, but primarily for a day in 1995 when the anti-apartheid
activist stole the show during the defeat of a team called, ironically enough,
the All Blacks.
