🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA SPRINGBOKS Americans React "From Apartheid Symbols to Icons of the NEW South Africa" 

Original video: The Springboks: From Apartheid Symbols to Icons of The New South Africa ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9bERod6-_RA.htmlsi=waCQTkWQG70aBUp-

Growing up in apartheid South Africa the Springboks were a symbol of racism and oppression. In 1995 that changed as the Springboks became the symbol of unity and one South Africa.

As a black South African I love then name Springboks regardless of what it used to represent.

As a young South African born post apartheid (21st century kid) I can say even I've seen the transformation from predominantly white player to a more diverse group of players. Never actually hated them, I'd say I grew up to be very patriotic of my country whether that's through the schooling system or just culture, but to me the springboks represent the best of what South Africa can achieve. 4 time world champions and we're a third world nation. Imagine that.

Mandela stopped changing the name of the Springboks. He actually had to go against his comrades, who wanted the name to change. He persuaded the ANC radical members spots will help to unite the nation. Guess what? He was right. Thank God for Mandela.

This is now a team of diversity and unity... I wish you could see the parades that happened over the last few days... Springboks going into townships and how warmly they have been accepted. Nelson Mandela wore the Springbok logo on his chest in 1995... he knew that this could build the country Watch the movie Invictus which stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon ..it's about Mandela using the Springboks to unite the country

It's worth noting that the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby team, have a unique power to unite people in the country. They serve as a symbol of the rainbow nation that Archbishop Desmond Tutu envisioned, where diverse communities come together. Just imagine if we could harness that same unity we witnessed during the Rugby World Cup and channel it towards fighting against corruption and working collectively for a better South Africa. The Springboks, with their remarkable ability to unite South Africans, offer a glimpse of the national harmony that's possible. If we could apply this spirit of togetherness to address issues like corruption and strive for an improved South Africa that benefits everyone, we could truly fulfill the vision of a more prosperous and equitable nation.

What he doesn’t mention in that video is that the ANC did actually vote in favor of changing the Springbok emblem and name to the Proteas (a which name which was eventually given to our cricket team). Do you want to have a guess at who convinced them to overturn that decision? None other than Madiba himself. He knew what the Springboks meant to the white population in South Africa, who he also knew would feel vulnerable after the shift in leadership after the 1994 elections. He thought it best, then, to prove to the white population that they weren’t in any danger by allowing them to have the Springboks. He also dreamed of the day when the Springbok team would represent all of South Africa, and not just one group of people. I can only imagine how proud he would be of our current Springboks under the great Siya Kolisi.

I don't mind the "Springboks" logo because we are in Africa, and we have plenty 😉 of wildlife and part of that is sprinboks. The colors : green and gold, that's indeed a rich South Africa which has greenery scenes for oxygen and we also have gold mine minerals. This makes us symbolic for greatness as a nation in its diversity, not just only Afrikaaners.

I used to hate the Springboks. Now i love them. 2019 was really big. and i believe the symbolism of the springbok has truly changed for the better.

Well guys , i am from Transkei ,now callled Eastern Cape , 51 years old , former rugby player, even those times we called ourselves springboks, because of South African Antilope ,the Antilope runs and jumps, that the way we used its tactics against opponents. The springboks is standing for us and our antilope for-ever

the boks right now is an example for the entire country we all a different races colors but we are all South African,and they showing us what can be achieved by working together.

1:38 Siya is no longer just the Springboks captain, he is an icon for South Africa. I saw on X some people even saying they would vote for Siya if he ran to be president of South Africa, especially after his speach at our white house

Now this Springbok is for all of Us!. White, Black, Coloured and Indian SOuth Africa.

One thing is our diversity is our strength and the Springboks are becoming more diverse and more successful as a result. We have grown to love the Springboks representing and embracing our diversity.

We've come too far and i believe as a nation. .. slowly but surely we're gonna get there😂😊 let's just celebrate and be happy for our boys🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

Love this video because it gives perspective. For a very long time rugby was a white game, some black people loved it but majority was white. Now that its as diverse as our country all races love it, we are united because they decided to give us people of colour a chance. Thank you for this❤

The more I watch you, the harder it gets to thank you for giving us this much love😭THANK YOU SO MUCH!!🤧❤

Now the Springboks are a unification of South Africa

The reason so many Springboks tend to be Xhosa/Coloured players is because people of colour in the old Cape Colony have been playing rugby since the late 19th century, unlike most people of colour in the rest of South Africa, i.e. outside the part of SA that made up the old Cape Colony.

A real cool thing about how our rugby team has transformed is the fact that in the last 100s of years there was countless of wars fought between tribes & colonies. Blood spilled everywhere, our nation has pure soldiers, but teaming up and being able to let that loose on other rugby countries, makes it damn sweet. Hence why Saffas tackle numbers are always higher then their opponents, brut aggression.

SO glad you guys are reacting to this stuff. Much love! 💌 You have to understand how recent all this is for us. It's within our lifetimes. I'm coloured, like Trevor Noah. When I was in 3rd grade (1993), I went to an all-white school. Literally. I was the only non-white kid for a whole year. It was like being an alien on another planet. I was a guinea pig. But it was worth it. I met my best friend that very first day. Was best man at his wedding, and I have three beautiful godchildren, We were aware of race, even then, but we overcame it. And still do. This country is a giant beautiful experiment. And we love it.

Agree.. no sad stories right now...this country is on a high...but guess the people from other coubtries dont know about the Springboks history... right now.. These are our heros...and they come from all races and backgrounds

Great content. well articulated story of the journey of the springboks. I remember in 1995 how the great Nelson Mandela stood on a podium persuading the black south Africans to support the then springboks team, it did work and Chester Williams became the face most blacks we could relate with. My hero in the whole episode is Rassie Erasmus who embraced the transformation, gave the current black players an opportunity to play at the highest level despite the backlash by fellow Afrikaaners who still doubted the black talents in rugby. This RWC win has transformed so many minds in SA.

He guys just a quick heads up "coloured" refers to people of khoi, san, white, malagasy, indonesian, filipino, as well as black heritage, rather than just black and white (mixed race) or black people. It's an awkward term to define about 3-4 million people living mainly in Namibia and South Africa and really has no negative connetation. They were a product of relations at the Dutch and later British settlements around Cape Town both prior to and in violation of later anti racial mixing laws. The Cape being for around 200 years a vibrant port city with multi ethnic groups either visiting on boats or settling down. Generally in Southern Africa we prefer to refer to people by their tribal group and the launguage they speak at home (Herero, Nama, English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu etc) than colour (black, white, asian). The term "coloured" (is also normally linked to a specific area - Cape Coloured, Namibian Coloured, Reboth Baster (don't go there as that word does come from the word basterd ie fatherless). So a European or American understanding of the word - is actually miles off what it actually refers to in Southern Africa. If you ever come to Namibia just don't call a Reboth Baster a coloured (almost impossible to tell the difference) but one will take huge offence at being reffered to as a Cape man of fishing sailing serventile heritage and be sure to tell you that he comes from a warrior people of former run away slaves of mixed (Khoi, san, SE Asian and White) heritage who joined up with Nama and Griqua tribes and occasional white frontiers men, who's contacts with the VOC Dutch East India Company had expired and opted to run into the hinter land of Southern Africa rather than be sent back to Europe. Best not mention that between Namibia and South Africa we have over 30 unique languages ... confused yet lol. Hence better to ask a person's tribe or how he/she would like to be reffered as. But then you have to accept 300 hundred years of Grandma and Gandpa lies, exagerations and "what I would like to be's". I did my DNA the other day and despite being clearly told I was a "white South African/Rhodesian" of 1820 British stock ... I'll be going on holiday to Ghana soon to see if I can track down an auntie.

Im a south african and i didnt know much about the history of the springbok and hearing it now im so so happy to see that things are changing for the better cause we all one ppl we bleed the same, so we should all love one another thats what God wants so God Bless south africa and i hope that the future of all countries can change for the better ❤

The saying goes that the white men started playing rugby with rocks while in a concentration camp, seeing the game played by the British that put them there during the war.

I just love you family for loving our nation South Africa 🇿🇦 and for revising for us our own painful history and celebrating our victories which are beautiful 😍 ❤

I love the Springboks for what they have become. There is nothing more potent in sport than unity. The green and gold are colours to focus on, not black and white! What I love most about this team is that it represents the country; wearing it means you are serving the country!

It was Nelson Mandela who OPPOSED his own party, the ANC, and insisted that the "Springboks" logo be retained. This SA experience shows that it is possible to redeem some symbols.

Id like to see your reaction to the movie INVICTUS which is about the rugby team and Mandelas influence on the team

A lot of us black people grew up idolizing Jonah Lomo (a Māori man) from New Zealand. To this day the All Blacks/New Zealand have a fan base in South Africa because they had Māori players during apartheid and we could see ourselves in the Māori.

South African here.. As a Springbok - supporter and person of color, I believe that it is not as much about changing the Springbok-symbol.. Its about changing our MINDSET about it.. So, to me - keep the Bok-symbol as is..

I’m 39 white male so I grew up during apartheid. It angers me what happened however there is so much good and that is what I hold onto too. We evolving and getting there at our own pace. Much love guys love your vids ❤️

Rugby took it’s time developing players the right way, so a team of true champs were united. No affirmative window dressing a true and real change in the team occured and it shows how it has been taken into our hearts.

Beg to differ. Racism in the US is off the charts. In SA, we are way ahead in terms of different races working together.

Growing up my dad who loves rugby 🏉 drilled into us that The All Blacks (New Zealand 🇳🇿) are the only champions we recognise and respect. And we would root for any country playing against the Springboks, they couldn’t even recite the national anthem yet somehow thought themselves national heroes.

Im glad theyre still called the Springboks. And that poc players are showing that they deserved to wear that jersey all along.

If its possible, can you please react to Chasing The Sun Its a documentary about the different stories of the Springbok players and their journey to winning the Rugby World Cup in 2019 You can even do it as a series. It will also give you a different perspective to the different backgrounds the players come from and how they focused on one ultimate goal. Please please

Some of the early iconic poc players in the green and gold jersey are Errol Tobias the first of them all and Chester Williams the only one in our 1995 win.

Hi guys love your spirit and faith in us as South Africa. Just thought let me tell you what Siyamthanda means. Siya as you now know him is a Xhosa name which is very significant as it translates inot - we love him- simple and crystal clear ! So no wonder he is so free spirited and confident🥰

I was the only white player in a team from ccc, in the army on the Angolan border, we won the title too!!

Love the fact you guys actually cover topics outside of your demographic, educating yourself on other countries. Keep it up.

No, the team had a coloured player Chester Williams in 1995.

You need to watch the movie "Invictus" Starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Touching story of Rugby and a Nation coming together.

For me is the calling of african names without flaws .

Let's just correct that a bit, the English forced an alliance, the Afrikaners and Africans where kept in concentration camps for quite some time before any negotiations where made. And it all remained under British rule. Go read up about the Second Boer War concentration camps. It's an interesting piece of history that has been forgotten.

It’s actually really good to see American people taking the time to understand our history, as opposed to making an outright statement of knowing what we go through. I salute you two for taking the time to learn about our country and culture!

What 1995 rwc did for SA was well worth the loss for us in New Zealand and I hope this RWC win has a similar effect and brings them some unity even if only for a moment . My Grandfather was a Knight commander of the commenwealth realm for what he did for maori people . The biggest highlights of my grandparents lives were number 1 meeting Nelson Mandela and said he wasa phenominal man . number 2 meeting Bill Clinton and said he was the most charming man they had ever met . They met both of them at world summits .

Yah.. South African Democracy is still young and some of the Racial Discrimination are still fading like On Rugby,,,

Great content. Learnt a lot. Thanks

We're busy celebrating the world cup victory, wait a minute with sad videos pls😢

You would cry tears if youd hear stories of the treatment black players have been subjected to in the Springboks and Proteas(Our Cricket National Team) set up, which are predominantly white. It is heartbreaking. Theres really no room to underperform. When its a white player its understandable, but when its a black player, you cant afford to have a bad day or be off form otherwise your selection will be questioned. It still happens today. When the Springboks lose black players are blamed or labelled as not being good enough. Even the Springbok captain we arw celebrating today went through the same thing. We constantly have to defend black players. So as much as we celebrate the Springboks, but such thoughts always come back. It is still not easy to make it to the Springboks. You have to go to expensive Private Schools to have a chance. Theres a lot of gatekeeping. But things have improved. But we can do better. There are many black players who are hindered because they cant afford to go to private schools. Especially from my region, the Eastern Cape, which has produced a lot more black players. Theres no shortage of talent, just access to resources and infrastructure.

Am new on your channel,and I must say your content is refreshing...Love from South Africa

love your reactions, thank you ❤ 2007 had three players of colour but no Xhosa, Sotho, Zulu or Tswana representation.

Excellent presentation. Thanks for your reaction.

I'm Coloured, I'm Namibian(we used to be the 5th province of South Africa- "South West Africa", until 1990 and the Springboks had notable Namibians/"South West Africans" in the past), and my family- both here and in South Africa (we are originally from Western Cape) are ardent Springbok supporters and I LOVE the Springbok on the jersey! Of course, I support my country FIRST, when we clash, but for any other matches that does not involve us, I am a Springbok. That's my country of heritage, and I love her- Loadshedding notwithstanding! ;-D Wanna know what's crazy though? I still have my South African Apartheid ID number AS my Namibian ID nr. Those who remember, still know that the last "8" in that number is you racial designation and mine is still "8" which means "Coloured". Yep- I STILL have that same ID number from 1994 when I turned 18. Although we were independent by then, I was born in Walvisbay, which remained under South African rule until 1994, and so I held(and still do) dual citizenship as a result. The government didn't chane those old ID numbers for some reason. Those who had ID cards during Apartheid, were just re-issued that same nr.

Love your content especially about my country, South Africa. Please do a reaction video in the Springboks trophy tour to 4 provinces, Gauteng, (Johannesburg) Western Cape (Cape Town), Kwazulu Natal (Durban) and Eastern Cape (East London)

The war between Afrikaner and Britain started in 1899 and ended in 1903. It was call Anglo - Boer war.

I can't believe this guy named racism as "Colonial British Fetish Fantasy" at 10:05. I shall compartmentalise racism like that from now on😂

Also, as recently as 2003, a player was kicked out of the Springbok camp for refusing to share a hotel room with a black teammate. And what's worse, when the coach heard about it, he punished both the black and white player. Essentially, the black player was punished for being the victim of racial abuse. I won't even go into the 2019 incident bacause folks are going to dox me again. Yes, it's good that the country has come together after this World Cup win, but we need to use this momentum in reconciliation to have some conversations, a lot of which will be very uncomfortable. It seems like no one is putting their hand up to start it off. Siya tried, but he was brushed away... It's very convinient for everyone to look at Siya as this transformative figure where just a few years ago, white folks shoo-ed him away when he opened up about being a black player in a white sport.

We were all created by the same creator let's embrace our diversity and conquer the world in love.

I just think Americans can never ‘really’ understand how this all unfolded. As a young housewife in the U.K. I remember never buying South African oranges. The whole of Europe was against apartheid and you can’t just play ‘catch up’ - you had to be there at the time to understand how happy we were when it ended

And now little white children have black rugby heroes and idols and little black children have white rugby heroes and idols. Amazing

About the logo Springbok During the apartheid era at school( Indian Schools)when our athletes used to represent and compete with all schools of South Africa they were awarded a blazers if green and gold 🥇 irrespective of a win or not

The history of the name and the colour remained because of our father of the nation Nelson Mandela.The movie Nelson Mandela ,the Captain played by American actor and the ANC wanted to change the name but President Nelson Mandela refused and said that Springboks is the reconciliation programs of the Rainbow nation.We embrace our history with its own diversity and pain of apartheid.Well done our champions springbok.We are a winning country.To Siya Kolisi ,captain my captain ,black african child look upon your leadership and have hope.

The war ended in 1902, and the Union was proclaimed in 1910. The intervening years were dedicated to erasing tensions between English speaking and Afrikaans speaking SAns . Note the Brits put the Afrikaaners and Blacks in concentration camps across the country and the world.

We have really been through a lot as a country. Still going through the most. In SA we hold onto any little happiness we can find.

The debate about the Sprinkboks emblem really began in in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became president. Black people wanted it gone. Mandela overruled a lot of his colleagues. His reasoning was that in the bigger scheme of things that emblem didn't mean as much to us as it did to white South Africans "They love the emblem more than they love war". He said "let us not take away the one thing they love just because we want revenge"..we had bigger goals. His vision was to take a group of people who hated each other's guts and turn them into a nation.And he used that Springbok emblem to do it. We may not agree with some things he did but I think all South Africans are grateful that he lived and he tried.

The one thing that is not said plainly in this video is that a lot of the negativity around player selection happened because of what people saw as major political interference in rugby (not so much in other sport). It was almost like it was being used as a weapon. Both white players and players of colour (and fans) were affected negatively. White players felt like they were overlooked because the team was forced to play a specific number of players of colour. And the players of colour that was selected felt like they were there not on merit, but only because of this quota system. As much as this policy was important, it was very divisive. Most people did agree though that the government needed to put more money and effort into the grassroots of rugby, to support and build up the young players of colour, so they can take up their deserved place in the team. This strategy only really started bearing fruit (to its fullest) in the 2019 team. This is why it seemed like things were dragging along for so long, buy this is not a change that can happen overnight.

@16:01 True. I see it as I travel the country extensively

Black people have always loved rugby ,we just were not allowed to participate nor even watch in stadiums,so we just started hating it even in 1995 we were still not fully included and we were just not interested even boycotting the world cup from being hosted in SA but Nelson Mandela advised and motivated us ,years after that we saw many people of colour being included in professional clubs even the springboks.

Please watch the Clint Eastwood movie "Invictus" about Nelson Mandela and the 1995 world cup

We can’t be victims forever. The springbok is our African animal and so is elephants, lions, warthogs etc. I don’t see how one can be negatively affected by that.

You must check out how Mandela saved the springboks

I like how He explain our history enkosi kakhulu

The first non white player was actually Errol Tobias

What also made this world cup special was how they included the songs Sister bettina which is like the second national anthem for black South Africans and Nkalakatha a song by the late Mandoza who just had his life story made it's what made more black people became part of these cause we love our music and dance

To me the springbok emblem represents a lot of things, pain in sense that even today we as my family we don't know where my uncle is or even his remains coz he was heavily involved in the struggle and it also gives hope to our country so for me alot of mixed feelings

i am person of colour and We played Rugby for generations we had i own competition i gave up playing rugby thought will never make Springbok team in early 90s

What does springbok stand for? The Springbok (Afrikaans: spring = jump; bok = antelope, deer, or goat) (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a small brown and white gazelle that stands about 75 cm high.

We really appreciate you guys for educating other black people anywhere in the world , and we will continue to pray for you to be free one day ❤❤❤

Thanks so much, great job The Douchets. You're awesome 👌🏿 👏

I am South African but I support the springboks as much as I do the Allblacks (NewZealand). The all blacks style of play is similar to how rugby is played in black communities, and they have managed to fully transform their team to include indegenous people. SA has come a long way but is still not representative enough. The current 42 man squad only has 7 black african players, thats ony 16% in a country where black africans make up 81% of the population.

Oceania rugby 7s tournament begins soon if you havn,t watched a sevens game you might want to get some in before the Olympics start . This will be Rugbys third Olympics . If you havn,t watched Invictis Starring Morgan Freeman and Mat Damon you should , It will shed more light on why they are still called Springboks and not Proteas .

I confirm everything this dude nust saif. I watched some of his videos, be is good. We love you guys

Ya'll need to visit South Africa.

Rugby is played at all "white" schools in South Africa. Age group teams with "A", "B"' and "C" teams, multiple age groups and levels. The only way into the Springbok team (in my opinion) is through the school rugby system. After apartheid it took a while for multi ethnic players to come through this system. South African school rugger is super high quality and an outsider is not going to get anywhere unless he competes with the best schoolboys from a young (pre teen) age

It's fine now because Springbok is the national animal ❤

They decided to work together because Gold was discovered in Johannesburg. It's all about the Green and Gold.

Brilliantly accurate portayal..I am impressed..Well done guys..

Of course this is a summarized version of the Springboks history. Before Chester Williams, there was Errol Tobias, a Coloured player who played for the Springboks during apartheid. There is a history of Black people in the Eastern and Western Cape playing rugby some 100 years ago. The argument is that Black people played Rugby before the Afrikaners. As mentioned, Rugby is an English game, and therefore English and Scottish missionaries introduced it to the Blacks of the Eastern and Western Cape.

It is interesting that you speak about relating it to the national anthem well there is that divide in South Africa when it comes to the national anthem, as you know the national anthem of South Africa is sung in 5 different languages 3 of those languages part(native) part was taken from prayers and struggle songs and then the 4th languages which is the Afrikaans part was then the original south african anthem before it was mixed with native language, most of the black people don't sing that part they just keep quiet, I know some of the South Africans will say its because we don't know Afrikaans but no that's not the reason

Black name for the Springboks is 'Amabokke'

Well we don't mind the logo staying there cz they included every body in the national team now. Plus that was all that we needed, a chance or opportunity to play and represent our country. Before that you wud notice ppl of colour( black, indian, coloured even Chinese) booing springbok... Their own national team and it was sad really but now it's different. That why we also change our national anthem to include all the SA languages and instead of the old one which consisted of English and Afrikaans

Springboks 🇿🇦

"That's a quick apology" 😅😅😅. They never apologised to us though. Lol. We will forever be on this land. It is home

first time i'm the first comment lol...Love the channel

Similarly in South Africa the 3rd stanza is a slap in our face because it is the apartheid National anthem.

Wow guys the boer war was a really sad part of history . Concentration camps was introduced for the boers. Just as bad as apartheid. That's why the springboks are so important to us all. It unites the country. Nkosi Sikelel Afrika