Well done New Zealand!

As the sun was setting on November 17, 2005, we received the sad news that we had not succeeded to persuade the International Rugby Board (IRB) to award our country the right to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Nevertheless, our warmest thanks go to our South African Rugby Union (SARU) Bid Committee led by Mthobi Tyamzashe, Francois Pienaar and Brian van Rooyen, supported by our Minister and Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation, Makhenkesi Stofile and Gert Oosthuizen, for the sterling work they did to present our case to the leadership of world rugby.

We warmly congratulate New Zealand for winning the right to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup. We are convinced that this great rugby-playing nation will host a successful World Cup that will help further to spread the popularity of rugby throughout the world.

In this regard, we must mention the outstanding role played by the people of New Zealand in the campaign to isolate apartheid sport as we engaged in struggle for our liberation. If only for this reason, it was good that SARU supported the New Zealand Bid once we unfortunately fell out of the running after the first round of voting.

In his book, "Dancing on our Bones", Trevor Richards, the leader of the New Zealand campaign against apartheid sport, HART, and now an Esteemed Member of the Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo, wrote that after the massive anti-apartheid campaign throughout New Zealand against the 1981 Springbok tour, he and another New Zealand anti-apartheid activist, Kitch Cuthbert, visited Lusaka in 1982. He continued:

"In Lusaka, there were meetings with the Zambian government and the ANC. Oliver Tambo, the ANC's leader in exile whom Nelson Mandela was later to describe as "the man who had led the ANC during its darkest hours and never let the flame go out", was quite clear in what he had to say to us: "the most significant contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle in 1981, from either inside or outside South Africa, came from New Zealand." The explicitness of his message, and the quiet, matter-of-fact way in which he said it, made its significance no easier to comprehend fully."

Both in our country and globally, all sporting codes continue to attract ever growing numbers of participants and spectators. At the same time, these codes draw increasing financial resources from sponsors, providing funds for their sustenance and development. Satellite television has also helped radically to increase the followers of sport, which, in turn, inspires sponsors to invest more money in sport.

All this emphasises the ever-growing importance of sport and recreation in the development of human society. This includes rugby, with the rest of our continent confirming this trend. This is demonstrated by the growth in the number of African countries that are now playing rugby, which has reached 32.

Only recently many of us were caught off guard when the South Africa Amateur XV was beaten by Madagascar earlier this month. This knocked us out of the African Rugby Confederation (CAR) Top Nine final that will be played by Madagascar and Morocco at the famous Stade de France on November 26, as a curtain raiser to the match between France and South Africa.

We lost to Madagascar in Antananarivo despite the fact that South Africa has 500 000 rugby players, while Madagascar has only 11 000. However we must bear in mind that Madagascar has played rugby for an entire century as one of its national sports, with its national team enjoying the enthusiastic support of the nation.

Commenting on the forthcoming CAR final at the Stade de France, the President of CAR, Aziz Bougja, said: "the two most significant allies to rugby's development in Africa have, along with the IRB, been South Africa and France. The South African union has greatly helped us and now this gesture from the French Rugby Federation in inviting us for the final is the latest act of generosity from them."

Like our Bid for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, our Bid to the IRB for the 2011 World Cup argued that if we were granted the right to host the Cup, we would work to ensure that it became an African Cup, by virtue of the impact it would make on the development of rugby throughout our continent. This would constitute a continuation of our commitment to the development of rugby in Africa, as acknowledged by the President of the CAR.

The fact that we will not host the 2011 World Cup should not reduce our commitment to the development of rugby in Africa. This underlines the critical necessity for us to ensure that SARU and our rugby family as a whole are properly organised to discharge their responsibilities to rugby both at home and on our continent.

Central to the achievement of this objective is the engagement of the transformation project in rugby that has been a matter of much debate for some time now. The recent discussions in Parliament earlier this month, following the presentation to the sports portfolio committee of SARU's transformation charter, open the way for all of us to reach consensus sooner rather than later, spelling out what is expected of rugby in democratic South Africa.

Surely, SARU is correct when it says that, among other things, transformation should result in a visible increase in the number of black people in management positions, on the rugby field and among spectators and supporters. Hopefully the SARU constitutional bodies will soon ratify the Transformation Charter and put in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure its implementation, obviously with the full participation of the provincial unions, among others.

The positive perspective and possibilities available to SARU in terms of the growth and de-racialisation of rugby is demonstrated by SARU's own findings concerning the state of rugby in our country. These include the finding that there are currently almost equal numbers of black and white senior players, and more black than white junior players. In addition, black fans make up the majority of the 10 million rugby supporters in our country.

In addition to what SARU should do, our Government will also have to play its role to facilitate the growth of non-racial rugby in our country. In particular we will have to provide resources to create the sports infrastructure that many black urban and rural areas lack. We will also have to pay attention to the encouragement of sports in schools and communities, including building the necessary cadre of qualified and dedicated sports coaches.

It is clear that the vigorous and sustained implementation of the rugby transformation charter would evoke a strongly positive response from the majority of our people. Despite the unfortunate Geo Cronje/Quinton Davis incident before the 2003 World Cup, black and white players have been playing together in the provincial, national and other teams, with no obvious signs of undue racial tension.

There is no reason why we cannot build on this as these teams change, as a result of the implementation of the SARU transformation charter. Our success in this regard would communicate an extremely important message both to the rest of our continent and the world concerning the critical challenge facing all countries - the challenge of building peaceful, stable and inclusive societies, united in their diversity.

Of direct relevance to our own country, many of us remember the atmosphere generated by the victory of the Springboks in 1995, and the strong message this communicated about the role of rugby and sport in helping us as well, to build a peaceful, stable and inclusive society, united in its diversity. Below we cite two comments that represent the intensity of feeling that attaches to the role of rugby, (and sport), in our country.

In his review of the book "Beyond the Tryline: rugby and South African society", co-authored by Albert Grundlingh, Andre Odendaal and Burridge Spies, Gerhard Mart says:

"(At the time of the 1995 Rugby World Cup which we hosted), I was astonished to find "that a majority of those around me seemed to support the Springboks, if not as rugby players then as 'nation-builders'. Unconvinced that the arrogance that marked white and recent (as Grundlingh et al remind us) Afrikaner domination of the rugby scene nationally had really departed, for all those so racialised in this racist society, I did not take pleasure in the dour (World Cup) victory in June (1995). As with various kinds of racism and crude sexism that permeate this country amongst white and black, such a sea change in attitude was, to my mind, not possible. I love the game, let it be said"

"At the same time, I would not wish to detract from the 'nation-building' effect that the victory did have, no matter how briefly. Many South Africans, and several Springboks, may have returned to their comfortable ways, but many of those may respond differently when new choices come to face them. There is not reason to doubt the sincerity of captain Francois Pienaar."

In contrast, Tokyo Sexwale, then Premier of Gauteng, celebrated both the "dour victory" and its meaning with regard to "nation building". Speaking of Nelson Mandela's presence at Ellis Park Stadium to celebrate the victory, wearing a replica of Francois Pienaar's No 6 jersey, he said:

"Only Mandela could wear an enemy (Springbok) jersey. Only Mandela would go down there and be associated with the Springboks. The liberation struggle of our people was not just about liberating blacks from bondage, but more so it was about liberating white people from fear. And there it was. Fear melting away. People were shouting, "Nelson! Nelson!" And who were these people, these rugby crowds" They were our jailers, our oppressors; the people guarding the borders, the police stations. But it was, "Nelson! Nelson!" We stood there and we didn't know what to say.

"As President of the country, he could have just ended up in the box and given them the cup. But to stand with them, to move his hands in the air, to wear that jersey, to have that cup, to lift the cup for them and to greet the people... you sat there and you knew that it was worthwhile. All the years underground, in the trenches, denial, self-denial, away from home, prison: it was worth it. For, truly, that day, we supped with the gods."

The passion conveyed by Gerhard Mart and Tokyo Sexwale, whether positive or negative about the 1995 World Cup, underlines the fact that rugby occupies an important place in the national psyche. Our rugby leaders need to recognise and respect this reality and respond to it with the necessary sensitivity.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, and despite our excellent Bid Book, we did not succeed to persuade the IRB Council in Dublin to allow us to be the first country to host the Rugby World Cup for the second time, even ahead of New Zealand, which hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1987 and experienced painful reversals around the hosting of the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

This temporary disappointment has not changed the challenges that face South African rugby. We must continue to work hard to ensure that rugby ultimately serves to showcase the kind of South Africa millions of our people are striving to build. We must continue to do everything we can to encourage the growth of rugby on our continent, to place Africa among the giants of world rugby.

We must build rugby in our country into such a force that, in future, the rugby-playing nations of the world will want to come to our country to celebrate the reinvigoration and rebirth of rugby both as a popular and truly national sport, and a potent force for the creation of a humane post-apartheid society.

In the meantime we must join the people of New Zealand as they celebrate their deserved success in Dublin. Inspired by what happened at Ellis Park in 1995, we must also ensure that we prepare ourselves so that the outcome of the inevitable contest between the Springboks and the All Blacks both in 2007 and 2011 is never in doubt.

Local Government elections

Countdown begins to local poll

The countdown to next year's local government elections has begun, with the announcement of the election date and the final open registration days this weekend, giving all South Africans an opportunity to determine the future of their communities.

The country's third democratic local government elections will be held on 1 March next year, Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi announced this week.

The announcement comes on the eve of the second and final voter registration drive by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on the weekend of 19-20 November. Around 19,000 voting stations countrywide will be open from 08h00 to 17h00 to enable first-time voters to register, voters who have changed address to re-register, and existing voters to check if they are registered in the right voting district.

The ANC this week called on all South Africans to make use of the final voter registration weekend to ensure they are on the voters roll. By checking that they are registered in the voting district where they live, South Africans will make sure they can vote in these crucial elections. By voting, residents will be able to determine how their council is run and their community developed.

"the ANC welcomes the progress made during the IEC's targeted registration programme, and is confident that this weekend's activities will substantially increase the number of eligible voters correctly registered," it said in a statement.

Over the coming weekend, the ANC's registration campaign will hit a high note with all structures going door-to-door to mobilise communities to register to exercise their democratic right to vote. This is the culmination of several weeks of local activities to make residents aware of the need to register, and to encourage all those not registered " particularly the youth " to do so. As a number of ward and voting district boundaries have changed, it is important for people who took part in previous elections to check that their details are correct, and they are registered in the voting district where they live. People who have moved since the last election will also have to re-register.

Because there will be no special votes in the local government elections, students and migrant workers should make sure they are registered where they will be on 1 March next year.

The ANC programme for voter registration has been on-going since the beginning of the first phase for voter registration. This campaign has included door-to-door work, public meetings and engagement with various sectors in communities. In recent weeks national leaders of the ANC, SACP, COSATU, SANCO and the ANC Women's League and Youth League, as well as provincial and regional leaders of these structures, have joined the campaign.

This is part of the ANC's public responsibility to join hands with all sectors of society to ensure that citizens of this country are able to exercise their hard-earned democratic right to vote. Even if people haven't decided who to vote for, they are urged to ensure they register now to have a say in their future.

The ANC is making a special call to young people to lead the way. The youth have always been at the forefront of change, and are therefore urged to register now to be able to continue playing that role in local development.

Registered voters who want to check whether they are registered or to find their voting station can make use of the following facilities:

• Call the IEC toll free on 0800 11 8000 between 08h00 and 17h00.
• Send an SMS with their ID number to 32810 on all cell phone networks.
• Visit www.elections.org.za.

Potential voters have to register in person and are reminded to take their green bar-coded identity document (ID) with them when they go to register.

More Information:

• Independent Electoral Commission

More Information:

• Governance and Administration Cluster report, November 2005

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