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Book: Invictus

Rugby was always known to be an Afrikaner game in South Africa

Published: Mar 18, 2010 07:15:55 AM IST
Updated: Mar 18, 2010 07:45:17 AM IST
Book: Invictus

Christo Brand was Nelson Mandela’s prison guard — first during his 13-year confinement at the infamous Robben Island and then at Pollsmoor prison. Such was Mandela’s charm that Brand started to regard his prisoner in a ‘fatherly light’. For the Afrikaner administration in South Africa, Mandela was the face of the enemy. Yet, it was hard not to succumb to his charms. This book is, in large part, about Mandela the charming manipulator. Like Brand,  many fell for his infectious charm.

After his release, the African National Congress won the elections and Mandela became president. But the situation in South Africa was very volatile. Since a black president had come to power, the Afrikaners were unsure of their place in the new South Africa. There were resentful blacks who suspected that he had colluded with the Afrikaners.

Mandela found the solution in sport. In the author’s words, “Mandela understood that rugby was the opium of apartheid, the drug that dulled white South Africa to what their politicians are doing. It might well be useful to have on hand a drug that could anesthetise white South African minds to the pain of losing their power and privilege.”

Rugby was always known to be an Afrikaner game in South Africa, and so the blacks detested it. If Mandela showed his support for the Springboks, an all-Afrikaner rugby team, the Afrikaners would understand that he saw them as integral to South Africa’s future. And if the blacks heard the Springboks singing “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” which had been the unofficial national anthem of the blacks during the Apartheid years, that would signal a new unification. The rest of the book is about how Mandela, who knew nothing about rugby till a few years back, motivated the Springboks into action. We won’t tell you the rest — go, read the book. It’s a great read.

Invictus, Nelson Mandela and the Game that made a Nation, by John Carlin;
Atlantic Books; Price: Rs 299; Pages: 274


(This story appears in the 19 March, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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