Hello Everyone,



Firstly, to put my little story in context, you, gentle reader, must know a little about my dark and mysterious past.



Firstly, I am unfortunate enough to have come from a family of sports-mad males. My childhood was dotted with traditional tribal gatherings to watch various sports events. My mother used to serve up sausages and onions in bread at half time and it was all great fun. Now that mother has gone on to her reward in the great smoking room in the sky, I have been left with the task to cooking the sausages on sporting occasions.



Secondly, as well as coming from a sporty type of family, we were also just a tiny bit political. My mother and father were invariably involved in some sort of political activity. One which was particularly dear to my mother's heart was bringing about the downfall of the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Mother expressed her disapproval of the Apartheid regime by boycotting South African goods. I can quite confidently say that I never knowingly ate a South African orange before Nelson Mandela was released.



I dutifully followed my mother's example and spent a great deal of my formative years freezing to death outside the South African Embassy in Trafalgar Square along with other picketers to express my own personal disapproval of the Apartheid Regime.



So, this evening, England took on South Africa in the final of the Rugby World Cup. Good match, very hard fought and eventually the best team won. Unfortunately it happened to be South Africa, but that's sport for you, there have to be losers in order for there to be winners.



All the good and the great hard turned out including the South African President Thabo Mbeki. I was watching the match with the male relatives and when the Springboks hoisted their black president onto their shoulders and gave him the Rugby World Cup to hold, I must admit to a tiny lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.  The team's affection for their President was very clear.



My nephew, who, like his auntie, has an observant eye, noticed this. He asked why I was a bit emotional. So I had to explain to the young fella all about what happened in South African before he was born. It was good to see the total disbelief in his face.



It was a moment that made all those long cold nights in Trafalgar Square drinking tea out of a flask really rather worthwhile.  South Africa may have its economic problems - but at least black players can now play for the Springboks.







Portia

Former Boycotter