Kolisi’s journey towards Mandela moment

Twenty five years ago an elderly black man held up the Web Ellis Cup and inspired a nation to embrace a new South Africa.On Saturday, a young black man held the same cup and asked the country to continue pursuing the vision of a Rainbow Nation.The Springboks’ Rugby World Cup triumph was hailed by South African newspapers yesterday as an “inspiration” to a nation suffering from racial tensions, unemployment and violence.South Africa’s first black captain Siya Kolisi “and his Boks have lessons in unity for all of us” suggested the Sunday Times.“Siyabonga” reads the frontpage of the Sunday Times. It’s an exceptional pun on the Springbok captain’s name because in the country’s Zulu language, siyabonga means thank you. South Africans are thankful for the welcome respite that the historic 32-12 win over England has given the beleaguered country. And Siya Kolisi is an embodiment of what is possible.In the words of their famous former president Nelson Mandela — which Kolisi posted on his Instagram account after the win — “It always seems impossible until it is done.”In many ways, Kolisi’s rise to the international stage mirrors that of the anti-apartheid struggle hero.The latter was a rural herd boy who became the country’s first black president in a white-minority ruled country, the former is a poor boy who became the country’s first black captain in a sport long considered whites-only.In fact, when Mandela was growing up, blacks were not allowed to represent the country in any national sports.Today, under South Africa’s affirmative action laws, racial quotas are necessary — and contentious.Like Mandela, Kolisi also comes from the Xhosa tribe and also grew up in the Eastern Cape province, in the poor township of Zwide outside the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.He was born in 1991 to a 16-year-old mother who died when he was 15.He was raised by his grandmother, Nolulamile Kolisi, and spent many days wondering where his next meal would come from.To escape the hardships and the temptation to steal, Kolisi said he threw himself into rugby.His determination and hours of training paid off after he was spotted at a provincial rugby tournament and given a scholarship to the prestigious Grey High School in Port Elizabeth.According to the Sunday Times, however, Emsengeni Primary School in Zwide, where Kolisi first played rugby still has a gravel rugby field and is just one example of the many aspects of South African life that have not been transformed since Mandela’s party, the ANC, took over in 1994. Poor education and sporting opportunities are just some of the myriad “problems” that Kolisi referred to in his speech in Yokohama where he told South Africans that together, anything is possible.Coupled with an ailing economy, high unemployment, poverty, crime, violence and massive state corruption is rising racial tension — something which Kolisi and his wife Rachel, who is white, have also been affected by.Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth is currently facing a charge of hate speech for an alleged racial altercation days before the squad left for Japan.Etzebeth has denied the claims, but the incident has exposed the divisions that still exist in Mandela’s so-called Rainbow Nation. Saturday’s trophy-winning scenes took many South Africans back to the 1995 World Cup when a magnanimous Mandela donned the green and gold jersey — a much revered and equally hated emblem because of its association with whites-only sport — in a gesture that showed forgiveness and unity were possible.Kolisi echoed that great statesman by asking South Africans to put their differences aside and work towards a common goal. “I really think an individual can change South Africa,” he said in an official Springboks documentary. “Sometimes you’ve just got to tell your story.”In 2007, the 16-year-old Kolisi watched in a tavern as South Africa won the Rugby World Cup. He was inspired. This year, millions of South Africans have been inspired as they watched him raise the Web Ellis Cup.“I am so happy the Boks won, that is the brand of rugby kids can learn a lot from. They are going to start to think, ‘perhaps I can be the next Siya...” school rugby development coach Manny Mailula told DPA.