Name: South Africa’s victorious rugby team lifts a troubled nation
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South Africa’s victorious rugby team lifts a troubled nation

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Get the latest news from USA, Canada and Europe directly to your inbox.What's HotEnglishEnglish Español Français Deutsch हिन्दी Italiano 日本語 Português Русский 简体中文Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeSouth Africa’s national rugby team returned home to a hero’s welcome on Tuesday after their World Cup triumph helped rally the troubled country dragged down by rolling blackouts, a stuttering economy and a national crisis of confidence.Thousands of South Africans decked in the national flag and Springbok green and gold gathered at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo international airport to witness the arrival of the men’s team who secured the coveted Webb Ellis trophy for a record-breaking fourth time.The Springboks, led by inspirational captain Siya Kolisi, pulled off a nail-biting 12-11 win over New Zealand in Paris on Saturday in front of a capacity crowd at the Stade de France.“This trophy is for those who come from tough, disadvantaged areas,” said Kolisi, the team’s first ever black skipper. “You can make something out of your life, even when the situation doesn’t look hopeful.”The patriotic frenzy in part reflects South Africans’ desire for hope that eclipses even the last time the team won the Rugby World Cup four years ago.Then, many South Africans believed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promise that he would turn around years of national decline under the ruling African National Congress.But the rot has only deepened since then, according to Khaya Sithole, an independent analyst. For this reason, the victory on Saturday evening “should be a moment for reflection for the country’s leadership about why the Springboks have been an exception”, Sithole said.Ramaphosa lauded the Springboks’ determination to win in a televised address on Monday, but his tribute quickly morphed into a defence of the ANC ahead of elections in 2024 that could terminate its three decades in power.“At moments when their cause seemed lost, they fought back and emerged victorious,” he said of the narrow victories over first France and then England that took the Boks through the quarterfinals and semi-finals by the closest of margins.But Ramaphosa was forced to admit in the same address that the rolling blackouts caused by the crisis at the Eskom power monopoly, and the parallel collapse of the country’s rail network under state-run Transnet, had crushed badly needed growth and exports.&nbsp;Mounting fiscal pressures also meant that “we are now paying more in interest on our national debt than we are budgeting for the police force”, at about 18 cents in every rand of revenue, he added.Each of South Africa’s four Rugby World Cup victories since the tournament began in 1987 have had a particular national resonance.&nbsp;In 1995, President Nelson Mandela donned the Boks jersey, reconciling what was then a young democracy with a team that was such a symbol of apartheid that it was excluded from the first two tournaments.Victory in 2007 came after a run of strong growth under Mandela’s successors. By 2019, however, the Boks had to carry a nation’s hopes of a comeback after a long descent into corruption and misrule under Jacob Zuma, the former president, scuppered this legacy.Although Ramaphosa has declared an extra public holiday in December to mark the rugby victory, many South Africans are unlikely to thank him or his party for it.The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters said that with his “pretentious” declaration of a holiday, Ramaphosa had “exposed himself as an opportunist who uses sporting moments to promote himself and the ANC”.In recent weeks, three separate polls have suggested that support for the ANC has fallen to 45 per cent or less, indicating that it could lose its majority for the first time if voters turned out. Yet the expected lower turnout — a mark of despair at the state of South Africa’s democracy — could also benefit the ANC and penalise rivals such as the main opposition Democratic Alliance that heads a “multi-party charter” to form a coalition government.Though recruitment for the South African rugby team still largely reflects the dominance of elite schools in a deeply unequal society, the Springboks have been a unifying symbol after efforts to promote more black players.&nbsp;This has tapped into a venerable history of black rugby, particularly in the Eastern Cape region where Kolisi was born and that is an impoverished ANC heartland. South Africa’s first rugby body open to non-white players was formed in 1897, predating the ANC itself.Despite this history, for nearly a century almost all Springboks players were white, making the 1995 win a milestone for transforming the face of the sport in South Africa. “There were people before me who fought for the opportunity for people who look like me to be able to play in this team,” Kolisi said on Saturday.Despite what this victory has meant for South Africa, some commentators outside the country have accused the Springboks of not deserving the win because of their power-driven style. But Sithole said this analysis failed to take into account how South Africa played to its strengths.“There has been a view that the Springboks have gone for this brutal game, and it doesn’t go down well with purists,” he said. “I honestly didn’t think they would get this far. But ultimately when it came to difficult tension points, the Springboks, with their approach to the game, found a way to win.”Source: Financial TimesDon't MissIt’s perhaps The Addams Family’s favorite time of year, but Apple’s pre-Halloween “Scary Fast” event…Stay In TouchOur PicksGet the latest news from USA, Canada and Europe directly to your inbox.

Get the latest news from USA, Canada and Europe directly to your inbox.What's HotEnglishEnglish Español Français Deutsch हिन्दी Italiano 日本語 Português Русский 简体中文Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeSouth Africa’s national rugby team returned home to a hero’s welcome on Tuesday after their World Cup triumph helped rally the troubled country dragged down by rolling blackouts, a stuttering economy and a national crisis of confidence.Thousands of South Africans decked in the national flag and Springbok green and gold gathered at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo international airport to witness the...

South Africa’s victorious rugby team lifts a troubled nation

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