The New York Times previews the latest '30 for 30' series of documentaries that looks at how the Rugby World Cup in South Africa in 1995 was used to help defuse apartheid’s racial divisions.
"Mandela would wear the Springboks cap and the Springboks jersey. Before South Africa played France in the World Cup semifinal, he spoke at a rally.
“I ask you to get behind them tomorrow,” he told a crowd that included some puzzled blacks, “because they are our pride, they are your pride.”
"[Director, Clifford] Bestall interviews numerous Springboks, including the only black player on the ’95 team, Chester Williams. But he most clearly establishes the divide over Mandela’s support of the team through the words of two people: Justice Bekebeke, a black activist who vehemently disagreed with Mandela, and Koos Botha, a conservative who once favored hanging Mandela.
"They are a fascinating and dramatic pair because, in Bestall’s use of their parallel stories, Botha’s resistance to Mandela melts long before Bekebeke’s."
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