Invictus

It tells the beautiful story of the special bond between Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar, captain of the Bokke at the time of Mandela's presidency. Pienaar grew up in a traditional white Afrikaner family. His team mates are all white, except for Chester Williams. Most of his team mates refused to sing nkosi sikelel' iafrika when preparing for the World Cup. Slowly but steadily, the team (and the country) realise they are part of a rainbow nation. And whether is was Mandela giving them strength or something else, Pienaar leads his team to a victory in the 1995 World Cup, beating the All Blacks in the final (with a cameo by Jonah Lomu). I easily cry when it comes to sport, but this flick touched me at many times. And it brought me back to Pretoria, 1997.


The still predominantly white team had been losing match after match. That didn't stop myself and thirteen fellow students to get tickets for the Tri Nations match agains 'Straya in the stadium in Pretoria. A beautiful afternoon in August. A slightly strange afternoon activity after a morning visit to Soweto, but so be it. South Africa had to beat Australia by 31 points or so. Not very likely considering their last matches. But they won 61-22. It wasn't the result however that impressed us so much. Fourteen Dutch students in rugby stadion will sing football songs. No way around it. And who cares? Well. Some people did. The Boers from Orange Free State behind us did, to be precise. In Afrikaans they asked us if it were football songs we were singing. Followed by comments that football was for kaffers, their president was a criminal, and what have you. We were shocked rather than angry. These men probably didn't know any better, having been indoctrinated all their lives. In front of us, some of the players' parents were sat. English speaking, friendly, courteous. They seemed to enjoy our enthousiasm and provided an endless supply of tangerines, beer and biltong. A good balance with the racists behind us.

I spent three months in South Africa in '97. But that afternoon, in that stadium, summed it all up for me. And it was the beginning of a strong love for a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.