Mbeki wins hearts ... for now
It was not so much the Springboks that needed South African President Thabo Mbeki’s support at the World Cup Final in Paris last Saturday, but rather it was Mbeki who needed the support of the World Champions, writes Rugby365‘s Siyabonga Mchunu.
When the Springbok contingent stepped up to the podium to receive their World Cup medals I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the three Heads of State that congratulated the players on a brisk evening in Paris.
What was perhaps most striking was the uncharacteristically jovial public display from three Presidents that are otherwise perceived to be extremely serious, thoughtful and even somewhat unhappy.
While Nicholas Sarkozy (President of France) and Gordon Brown (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) lived up to expectations with their pinstripe suits and thick coats, Mbeki surprised many when he wore his bulky Springbok jacket, which was somewhat symbolic.
But it was only when Mbeki was lifted onto the shoulders of some Springbok players, as if to say to say ‘thank you for flying all the way to France to support us’ – which was laudable – that the magnitude of this World Cup victory in terms of Mbeki’s popularity struck me.
I could of course be way off the mark.
It has been a tumultuous year for the embattled President who’s popularity, according to an October TNS survey, has dropped to its lowest in the past four years (40 per cent).
Although the survey doesn’t reveal the possible reasons for this dramatic decline, it is blatant to any South African who reads a newspaper what those reasons might be: from the public seriously doubting the credibility of his Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to the warrant for arrest for the country’s Police Commissioner, which is believed to have sparked the subsequent suspension of the Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli.
His popularity among South African rugby supporters would have taken a severe knock following comments by Chairman of the Portfolio Committee for Sport Bhutana Khompela made on behalf of the ANC on Cape Talk Radio last week.
But very little has been said about those comments since then [not from our readers anyway], indicating that the dust had settled, if only for a few weeks while the South Africans bask in the glory of their team’s successful World Cup campaign.
However, it is ultimately what happens in South African rugby in the aftermath of the World Cup that will undoubtedly determine Mbeki’s relationship with the South African rugby fraternity in the future.
It is indeed true that Mbeki winning the hearts of the South African rugby following [largely white], even if it is just for a few weeks, will have very little bearing at the ANC’s National Congress in Limpopo in December, his seemingly unequivocal support for the Springboks on Saturday could do wonders for his dwindling image.
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