Paul Lewis: South Africa still a land of inequality

Twenty-five years on from the 1981 Springbok tour which split a nation, the Springboks are back in town. Coming soon after some euphoric recent remembrances of the protest, and after South Africa's 49-0 drubbing at the hands of the Wallabies last week, the visit is a reminder of what has happened in the Republic since those days.

There can be absolutely no doubt that the 1981 tour changed attitudes within New Zealand and helped to firm international opinion against apartheid. However, some of the self-congratulatory implications from some involved with this anniversary have been a little harder to stomach.

In both an economic and rugby sense, South Africa remains a land of inequality.

Rugby then was the game of the white man - and it remains largely the same. The current coach is even called White.

Jake White, by all accounts a good coach, a decent man and the selector of more coloured players than any other, has come under fire for not selecting enough black players in the Springboks. South Africa operates a quota system for its Super rugby teams and, while there is no official quota for the Springboks, there is clearly underlying pressure for the inclusion of black players.

It means the Springboks are often not fielding their best team. They are politically and socially correct, no doubt, but face a considerable handicap, mentally and physically.

Some will say that a noble end - integration of players of all colours - justifies the means but it is a moot point if the Bok game is not strong enough to stand the transformation. Being fully integrated in a poor team will benefit no one.

Hardened rugby watchers were shocked at the manner of South Africa's capitulation against Australia. 'Boks' and 'throwing in the towel' are words not normally seen in the same sentence. There is a growing feeling that the seeming lack of remorse by the players - an All Black side beaten 49-0 would be suicidal and so would many of the fans - means that it is becoming easy to shrug off a loss in these days of transformation and two-a-penny Tri Nations encounters. This from the rugby nation formerly renowned as being the most bloody-minded, passionate and hard to beat in the world.

It is clear the pressures of building a country as well as a team are lodged firmly on Springbok shoulders. South Africa's chairman of the parliamentary committee on sport, Butana Komphela, recently accused White of stifling the inclusion of blacks in the Springboks because he wanted the team to be a winning one. "It's not about a winning team," said Komphela. "It's about a winning team that has the support of the country behind it."

Zola Yeye, co-chairman of the Eastern Cape Legends club, said: "That we are still talking about transformation is diabolical. We should be seeing a true reflection of South Africa on the field - not a team as lily-white as the group who played in the 1995 World Cup."

That victory by the Springboks touched hearts around the world as President Nelson Mandela wore a Springbok jersey and saluted white Afrikaaner captain Francois Pienaar and his team in a gesture that seemed to hold rich promise for the "Rainbow Nation."

Fast forward to just before the 2003 World Cup, when giant Springbok lock Geo Cronje was barred from selection because he would not share a room with a "player of colour". Now White is being threatened with the sack because of the controversy over Solly Tyibilika, the black flanker who played against the All Blacks last night and who has been labelled - in the curious political nomenclature of the times - as a "transformation player" (quota player being too demeaning, apparently).

So, in a rugby sense, race remains an issue, albeit with subtle changes.

Inequality also lives on economically, 12 years after apartheid ended in 1994. About 60 per cent of the 46 million population earns less than US$7000, with blacks still making up about 90 per cent of the country's poor. About 50 per cent live below the poverty line.

Unemployment is officially 26 per cent, other estimates put it at 40 per cent. The average black household has become 15 per cent poorer in the past 12 years. The violence and the efforts to re-channel the wealth are well known.

Such problems cannot be solved by anything other than long-term action. But 25 years on from the '81 tour, any patting of satisfied backs seems daft. The issues are still there, just wearing different clothes.

We have our own problems even as we watch, in this Tri Nations series, a team of All Blacks chosen on merit, regardless of race, colour, religion or whether they come from Canterbury.

One publication, in remembering 1981, called it a battle for the soul of a nation. Maybe, but that suggests the battle is over.

Consider the Kahui case - dead twins, an extended family living on welfare, a well of silence, the open wound of Maori violence on Maori, and the worst of the white middle class reaction.

Let's not kid ourselves - 1981 was significant, yes. A solution, no.