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In April 1994, all adults in South Africa vote freely for the first time, and in May Nelson Mandela becomes president. After decades of apartheid and 27 years in prison, he would have reason enough to settle scores with his former oppressors. He does not. The 1995 Rugby World Cup becomes one of the best-known images of how he seeks to turn the victory over apartheid into a Better End State.
A victory that could split the country
Situation
The end of apartheid is a political victory for the majority. But the country is deeply divided. Many white South Africans fear revenge and expropriation, and there are armed groups that reject the transition. At the same time, many Black South Africans expect their lives finally to change after decades of oppression.
Link to the principle
Mandela faces the question the principle asks: What is the victory worth if the state afterward means unrest or even civil war? He measures success not by the victory but by the country that comes after.
A symbol of the oppressors
Situation
In South Africa, rugby is above all a white sport. Because of racial segregation, the country was excluded from the first two Rugby World Cups. The Springboks, with their green jersey and antelope emblem, are seen by many Black South Africans as a symbol of the old system. The 1995 squad includes only one Black player, Chester Williams. Within the ANC, Mandela’s own party, there are efforts to scrap the name and emblem. Mandela argues for keeping them.
Link to the principle
Savoring a victory would mean taking away the opponent’s symbols. Mandela decides differently. He wants not to eliminate the symbols but to share them, so that those who lost in the upheaval also find a place in the new order.
The tournament at home
Situation
The 1995 World Cup is the first major sporting event in the new South Africa. Mandela publicly backs the team and its captain, François Pienaar. The Springboks reach the final against New Zealand.
Link to the principle
Mandela uses sport as a means toward the end state. He stands behind a team that many of his supporters reject, and in this way he wins the trust of those who distrust him most.
The final
Situation
On June 24, 1995, South Africa wins 15–12 after extra time at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. Joel Stransky decides the match with a drop goal. Mandela appears in the green Springbok jersey bearing the number 6, the captain’s number, and hands Pienaar the trophy. The crowd in the stadium cheers him.
Link to the principle
The image goes around the world. The Black president in the jersey of his former oppressors says more about the intended end state than any speech: a country in which both sides are at home.
What a symbol can and cannot do
Situation
That same year, parliament passes the law that establishes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Economic inequality between Black and white South Africans remains great, and many South Africans later take a more critical view of the reconciliation. In 2009, Clint Eastwood tells the story in the film “Invictus.”
Link to the principle
A better end state does not come from a single match. But a symbol can show what state is meant and win over the people who must help carry it. The rest is painstaking work over decades.
Key takeaways
Key lessons
- Measure your victory by how the losers can live afterward.
- Don’t take away your opponent’s symbols; give them a place in yours.
- Stand visibly behind something your own people view with skepticism, if it serves the whole.
- Use moments that many people experience together.
- Don’t mistake a powerful image for finished work.
Summary
After the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela could have savored his movement’s victory. Instead, he stood behind the Springboks, the symbol of the white minority, and wore their jersey at the 1995 final. He measured the victory not by who held power but by whether a shared country could emerge. That is the principle of the Better End State: the state after the victory decides whether it really was one.
Sources
- John Carlin: Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation. New York: Penguin Press 2008.
- Nelson Mandela: Der lange Weg zur Freiheit (in German; English original: Long Walk to Freedom). Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer 1994.
