Nomkhitha Mkhuma
Celebrate good times, come on, South Africa! The 2023 Rugby World Champions, globally known as the Springboks arrived at The OR Tambo International Airport to be met by a united rainbow nation beaming with hope and purpose.
School children, varsity students, moms, dads and grandparents throughout the country took the opportunity to welcome the trophy celebrations when the Boks came home and lifted all our spirits making us forget our loadshedding blues for once.
Their arrival on the 31st of October 2023, showed what a country that strives for equality and economic liberation can achieve when united.
The team embarked in a Four Day Victory Tour – Webb Ellis Cup and set the streets of South Africa ablaze. Before the tour could commence, we witnessed the 25-Year-Old star, Damian Willemse tattoo the Ellis Cup on his derrière, making this his second World Cup win with the Springbok.
Last week’s Springbok victory against New Zealand made him the youngest player to achieve this feat, so who could ever blame him for wanting to ensure the memory is embedded somewhere on his body?
Our hearts were softened as a nation, when Cheslin Kolbe at the Multichoice Headquarters in Johannesburg, stood up from his seat and handed his medal over to a kid who had voiced out how Kolbe was not only his favourite player, but was also inspired by him.
The tour kicked off on Thursday (2 November) in Gauteng, The City of The Vodacom Bulls where supporters showed up in their hundreds to show their love and adoration for the “country’s heroes”.
As they travelled through Braamfontein and into Soweto, where they had their final stop of the day at The FNB Stadium that was filled with fans from all over the region, social media attendees were able to capture some of the Kaizer Chiefs players attending the celebration and commented on their ‘unsportsmanlike’ appearance. Talk about loyalty.
The next stop was in the City of Cape Town, while the weather was on the right side of the celebration a Springbok supporter was in the opposite, a video went viral on social media platforms showcasing a young witkant trying to throw a rugby ball to The Springbok Captain – Siya Kolisi, only for him to miss the ball as it went above his hand, landing right on Rachel Kolisi’s face, it was brutal to witness.
On the lighter side of things, Siya Dlamini, from Volksrust, in Mpumalanga, who went viral on TikTok for renaming Eben Etzebeth “Elizabedi” while cheering him on television during the game with New Zealand, was seen hugging the Springbok Number 4 Lock, with a champion’s spirit he had shared with the country on the video.
On Saturday, the team graced KwaZulu-Natal with their never dying spirit, while Faf who had been prancing around in speedos was missing in action. The rest of the team showed up and showed out.
Our beloved country wouldn’t be what it is, if there wasn’t a little bit of chaos here and there to remind us how far we still have to go as a nation. A party pooper indeed, when a video showed a man attempting to steal a cell phone and then being met with the fists from the growing crowd of.
It is on the 5th of November, in East London where men were seen climbing up and down street light poles in an effort to see the Springboks from a better view.
As the tour came to its final stop, the Springbok Captain climbed off the bus to join the rest of his team members in the venue, where he was met with a woman who tried to jump and kiss him. There was no kiss from a rose, to borrow from the lyrics of Seal.
Video footage shows an irate Siya Kolisi resisting the overture before he got escorted through the crowd and into the building.
The Springboks went to the World Cup, Conquered and came home as champions.
Who knows among the hordes of adoring fans one day we may hear a fairytale story of ‘I was there”. But first let’s build a winning nation.
INSIDE EDUCATION
