Excited fans line up Soweto streets for Boks trophy tour

It was family videos showing the buzzing streets painted with green and gold in Pretoria in the morning that convinced Dr Francois Taljard to rather wait his turn in the afternoon outside Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.

Still dressed in his green scrubs, Taljard, an employee at Bara, stood outside the hospital with throngs of Bok fans who were waving their flags patiently waiting for Siya Kolisi and his team as the made their way from Tshwane through to Johannesburg CBD before landing in Soweto yesterday afternoon.

Taljard, who lives in Pretoria, had left his home the previous night to start his shift at the Soweto hospital. He decided against driving all the way to Pretoria to catch a glimpse of the action as his shift had not ended. 

“Honestly this is a huge relief now that it’s all done and dusted. The past three weeks have been absolutely nerve-wrecking and it’s sort of now the icing on the cake and it’s a really good feeling. It’s also nice to see how excited people really are and it’s absolutely just amazing.

“I have just finished my shift and I am so happy I didn’t miss the Boks. I came appropriately dressed [referring to the colour of his scrubs] for it. This morning all my family were in Pretoria and they saw the tour there and I got the videos from them and I was considering whether or not I should take an early day or am I going to wait a little bit but I was like I am definitely going to wait for the Boks to come past and it’s worth it.”

Khosa Hoyozela, a resident nurse at Bara, also stood with his colleague singing igwijo songs a few  metres from Taljard.

“I am very excited and it’s a great thing that we were allowed to get a half day today so that we can celebrate the homecoming and the trophy with the Boks. I am very happy for Siya Kolisi and the team, all the way from Ox, Mbonambi to Kolbe, we are very thankful for them for bringing home the cup,” said Hoyozela.

At Maponya Mall, fans stood next to the mall’s signage that had been decorated in green and yellow balloons. Vuvezelas could be heard as grannies ululated to the sound.

Mduduzi Mkgoba said he wouldn’t have missed the tour for nothing. He was armed with his SA flag he bought to support Bafana Bafana in their first world cup tournament in France 25 years ago.  

“I am so happy that we have won and many people doubted them but I didn’t give up. The same way I didn’t give up on them in 2019. I also knew they were going to win this time around.

“When I see them I’d be very happy and I will be waving this flag. I bought this flag for Bafana Bafana back in 1998 and I still have it fresh. I knew I didn’t waste money when I bought it,” said Makgoba.

Nhlanhla Matshoma, a University of Johannesburg student at the Soweto campus said: “This excitement is because we are history makers. We won the world cup four times and no other country has done that. So, this excitement that you are seeing here is deserved. Many people have been waiting since 10am and others even earlier. We are a proud nation because they have made us proud.”