Today, two countries put aside their hostility to unite and pay respect to the greatest man of our time, the man who put aside his struggles to unite his nation.
Nelson Mandela used sport to unite South Africa’s black and white divide, which is why he will forever be remembered as a warrior of peace.
“Sport has the power to change the world”, it unites, it gives a hapless person a cause, and empowers nobodies to stand up and fight for a cause.
Supporters of differing sports and teams seem to have a unconditional bond with that sport and club, and the late Mandela’s words cannot be any truer.
Sport helps break down barriers, it brings us and them together in a way no other field can do – it’s the magic of it.
The image of Madiba handing over the 1995 World Cup trophy to Francois Pienaar galvanized a country – a simple gesture of a black man handing over a white man’s trophy to a white Springbok is one of the most remarkable images of all time.
The Springboks’ underdog win against the All Blacks was a symbol of Mandela’s fight against apartheid.
And it was poignant his last public appearance came at his country’s most redefining moment on the world stage – the 2010 FIFA World Cup – and was a symbolic gesture in celebrating South Africa’s democracy.
That special World Cup shined a light on a once-divided country, it highlighted its good, but raised awareness of its bad – the health and social divide that still exists between the countries bordering villages and cities.
Mandela never conceded the fight was over, and he continued fighting the cause until his battered body surrendered peacefully.
The scenes in the 2010 World Cup were beautiful, reminiscent of the 1995 final.
The country was united behind its national team and the cause, and Mandela’s fight for unity and peace was recreated in the football stands and the pitch.
May Madiba rest in eternal freedom – it’s been a long walk to freedom, and his walk affected many aspects of South Africa, especially sport.
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