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Shame on the bigots who unfurled the old flag and live in the past

In 1995 we successfully hoisted our first-ever post-apartheid international trophy, did we not?

In 1995 we successfully hoisted our first-ever post-apartheid international trophy, did we not?

And was it not at Ellis Park Stadium, where a lanky, beaming, President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey, goeie genade, invaded the hallowed rugby ground moments after captain Francois Pienaar triumphantly lifted the silverware?

The nation, then only a year old, had won the Rugby World Cup.

The picture of Pienaar smiling broadly on that balmy afternoon has earned him the status of a sought-after smiling TV and glossy-magazine model.

Save for Chester Williams, who at the time insisted he was not black but a Cape coloured, it was an all-white team. It did not matter, though.

And, for some reason I am still trying to fathom, why on earth on that day was my wife running up and down the ultra-quiet street of our suburb shouting "Die Bokke!".

She even went to the house next door, where our neighbours were celebrating the victory over a boerewors braai and copious amounts of Castle lager.

I had never seen her behave like that before. I mean, getting that emotional about sport.

Except for the gym, she's not a sports enthusiast and is particularly unimpressed by Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

The only thing I hear her say is, "Ao, shame, ngwana 'batho'," [Oh, shame, poor thing] every time Benedict Vilakazi shows his skill on the box. Even when Tso scores a goal: "Ao, shame.''

But she was as excited as most South Africans when the Springboks won.

In this country, rugby had always been a white man's game and soccer a black thing. It is true, hence the excitement following the recent appointment of 20-year-old Chiliboy Ralepelle as the first black Amabokoboko captain.

But not many of our alleged compatriots are happy, and they are showing their unhappiness.

Why did they unfurl the old South African flag when the Springboks played against England in November, and at OR international when the team returned on Tuesday?

Then there are those who say we will not capably host the 2010 Fifa World Cup and that Australia could do it better. Hao!

These are the white South Africans who still cling to the past, who still regard rugby as "theirs" and soccer as "ours".

I hope they remain the obscure minority that they are, these bigots who doubt our capability to host the World Cup and Ralepelle's captaincy.

These traitors believe in European superiority and have no loyalty to Africa at all. I love saying it in my own vernacular, Sesotho: mahlabaphiyo [backstabbers].

Why don't they come up with suggestions to combat crime, if they are concerned at all?

Elsewhere in Joburg's northern suburbs the predominantly white eBlockwatch anti-crime group is doing something good, its members putting their money where their mouths are.

To all our detractors - of course I want to see my wife run down the road again, saying, "Ag, shame, poor boy", after Vilakazi dazzles Ronaldo and we win the cup.

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