OPINION - Two old enemies will face each other again, not on the battlefields of Natal and the old Boer Republic of Transvaal, but on the rugby ground of Yokohama in Japan.
Though the Rugby World Cup final won’t be fought with guns and cannons, it will be a fierce, war-like contest, fought not only with brawn and muscle, but skill and tactics.
While the English will go for the jugular and try to maul their prey, the Springboks will hope to give them the slip and spring to victory.
Many of us who were never rugby fans will be watching the final on Saturday, hoping the Springboks will outrun England and lift the Webb Ellis trophy again. Like the soccer World Cup in 2010, the Rugby World Cup has - hopefully - united black and white against the old foe.
If it can be done in sport, why not in other fields of human activity, like crime, justice and politics?
The racial divide between black and white was all too obvious recently when Mmusi Maimane and former Western Cape premier Helen Zille faced the press. Though they sat together, the strained relationship between the two leaders was all too plain to see. The turmoil in the DA is good for the ANC but bad for opposition politics. Democracy will not thrive with a poor opposition.
But let’s hope a Springbok win galvanises the nation together. We badly need some cheer in these gloomy, troubled times.
T Markandan Kloof
DAILY NEWS
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