Nowadays 94-year-old Nelson Mandela mainly makes the news because of health issues. But what makes him so special that half the world is concerned when he gets pneumonia? For one, he was a master in rebuilding trust.

In the circumstances wherein Mandela found himself in 1994, however, rebuilding trust was a tough nut to crack. In the aftermath of the first democratic elections South Africa was a divided country. During apartheid, which had lasted for more than 40 years, blacks and whites had lived separately.

And when they did confront each other, it usually hadn’t been pretty. When apartheid was abolished, the different groups in South Africa had to find a way to cooperate and live together. But how can you learn to live in harmony with the people that have suppressed and traumatized you and your family for decades? And from the oppressors viewpoint: how can you trust the new rulers not to take revenge?

While extremist right wing groups took up arms, ready to fight the new black government, Mandela had to convince the whites that he and his party stood for equal rights and shared responsibilities. On the other hand he had to be careful that gaining trust from whites would not distance his own people. How did he manage to balance the scale and prevent a civil war? His strategy must have been complex and multifaceted, and the process of rebuilding trust is still going on, but I’d like to focus on one specific way in which Mandela tried to bring South Africans together: by embracing rugby.

The Rugby World Cup
Perhaps you’ve already seen the movie Invictus – with Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon speaking in an awful Afrikaans accent – or read the book by journalist John carlin on which it was based. But in the light of the ‘rebuilding trust’-theme, I think it is a story worth retelling.

According to Carlin , Mandela already lifted part of the threat before he got elected president. He secretly invited the right wing leaders over for tea. They probably didn’t become buddies straight away, but Mandela could be a very persuading man and over time he did convince them that an armed struggle was not the solution.

But even when the leaders put down their weapons, there were still a lot of angry and scared whites in the country. With the Rugby World Cup coming to South Africa in 1995, Mandela saw an opportunity to win their trust and create one nation.

He explained the national team’s teamcaptain, François Pienaar, his plan over a cup of tea (there’s the tea again…who ever said drinking tea together can’t solve problems?). Rugby had always been a white sport. Now Mandela wanted the national team, the Springboks, to become the team of ALL South Africans. Of course, the team itself would have to play an important role in promoting themselves, so that’s where Pienaar came in. It wasn’t difficult to persuade him , as he later told Carlin: “I felt like a wide-eyed kid listening to an old man telling stories.”

One team, one country
Then Mandela faced another challenge: to win over his own people. Mandela would later recall: “They booed me! My own people, they booed me when I stood before them, urging them to support the Springboks!” But he didn’t give up. And neither did the rugby team. The players even sang ‘Nkosi Sikelele Afrika’ (God Bless Africa) at the start of every game. It might be part of the national anthem now, but back then it must have been a jaw-dropping sight to see whites sing the old black resistance song. And when the World Cup progressed and the Springboks won game after game, enthusiasm among blacks grew. By the time the Springboks made it to the finals, their slogan at the time seemed to come true: “One team, one country.”

Before the start of the final match, Mandela himself walked onto the field dressed in a Springbok shirt. And while he shook hands with the players, the supporters in the stadium – the vast majority of them white – started chanting: “Nel-son! Nel-son!” As if that wasn’t enough of a miracle, the Springboks, who were the underdogs compared to the strong New Zealand team, actually won.

Obviously, racism and distrust between groups didn’t completely vanish after that day.  A white mother in South Africa once told me: “We didn’t respect blacks when I was young. I now teach my children to respect black people, because they will get in trouble if they don’t. “ To me, that sounded just wrong: fear should not be the reason to respect others. But at least it’s a step in the right direction. Perhaps her children or grandchildren will learn their children to respect blacks because they deserve it just as much as whites. Building the rainbow nation as Mandela envisioned it will take generations, if it happens at all. But at least he managed to avert the threat of a civil war.

As Carlin says, from the moment South Africa won the World Cup, “the violent Right barely uttered a squeak; (…)South Africa was more stable than at any point since the arrival of the first white settlers in 1652.” And even though there are still white South Africans who consider Mandela to be a terrorist, he managed to gain the trust of the majority of them. By doing so, he transcended his own party and became the president of the entire nation: one president, one country.

Blog by: Anouk Broersma