SA Rocks

We won! We won! We are the Rugby World Champions! We have the trophy, and it’s ours for the next four years, at the very least. I am excited like I haven’t been in so long, and if I am honest it is about much more than a sports tournament.

Forgive me for sounding like the liberal arts student I was, but psychologically South Africa needed that win for more than sports pride. We are a positive people as a whole. Let us be honest – a lot of the time we need to be. The daily assault of negative media, crime statistics, questionable politics and dodgy neighbours can take its toll – as in any country in the world. I sometimes feel that the world is conspiring to strip away the good work we put in, and lay bare all our failings and insecurities as a nation.

Maybe it’s because I am so far away from home that I can see the general trends, maybe it’s all in my head, but I feel that the last few months the negativity of your average South African has increased. We all seem “gatvol” and far from the tolerant, striving-towards-unity nation we have been in the past. You could even say that the magic fairy dust of the ’94 elections and the ’95 World Cup “world in union” victory needed a top up.

On Saturday night, however, as one nation we watched and held our breath. We pushed our boys forward with our will alone. We gasped and shrieked, and probably swore at the referee a little bit. And as the final whistle blew, and the English side sank to their knees, we jumped from our seats and screamed with joy. Together. I am willing to bet that no matter where we were in the world, we sought out the company of other South Africans – we walked out into the streets and hugged complete strangers.

This is not to suggest that the problems have disappeared, but now that we have reaffirmed to ourselves that we are in it together, we can put our heads back down and get on with the business of improving the lives of all South Africans . Who’s with me?

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