The Informative Essay

I. Introduction:
A. Nelson Mandela fought for democracy and freedom in South Africa
B. While Springboks was a symbol of white colonialism and opposed everything he
stood for, Nelson Mandela made the unpopular choice of supporting Springboks,
which was instrumental in unifying post-Apartheid South Africa and proved how
sports can bring together people.
Body

II. Sports is transformative

A. Sports has the power to unite and inspire young people
a. Before their major games, Springboks toured around South Africa and held
rugby clinics for children. These clinics became instrumental in winning the
support of black Africans for an almost exclusively white team.
B. It can eradicate racism
a. When people support the same ideals, they have something in common.
This enables them to see beyond their differences and communicate with
each other, which is what happened when the Springboks competed in the
Rugby World Cup.
C. Nelson Mandela was able to go beyond his emotions and recognize how sports can
transform people.

III. By supporting Springboks, a personification of white apartheid, he showed his supporters

how their ideals can be achieved through peaceful means
A. Rugby has long been viewed as symbol of white supremacy in South Africa
a. Rugby has traditionally been white and kept off from black Africans, with
Springboks having only one black player in their team. This made rugby
unpopular among the black Africans and made them turn to soccer instead.
b. Rugby, being enjoyed by white Africans, have used it to promote anti-
apartheid agendas.
B. Despite the strong opposition from his supporters, Mandela chose to campaign for
the team.
a. By supporting Springboks, Mandela knew what it meant to his non-
supporters and wanted to show the white minority that blacks were not
going to expect them to abandon such an important part of their culture.
C. For a man to see his brothers and sisters so unjustly treated and have almost three
decades of his life taken away and still bestow love to very antagonist that inflicted
these travesties upon him and his race, he became the epitome of forgiveness and
was a good role model to black Africans post-apartheid.
IV. The Springbok team’s victory in the Rugby World Cup was instrumental in bringing the white
and black South Africans together
A. Black Africans celebrated their win and made them a source of their national pride.
a. Blacks stormed the streets celebrating the victory. Attired in the Springbok
colors and cap, Mandela was beaming as he presented the trophy to
Pienaar.
B. When the team played well in the World Cup, the interest in the game spread across
Black communities.
a. In 1995, there was just one black player in the team. Today there are many,
including captain Siya Kolisi.
C. The Springboks win was also Mandela’s win against hate and division among his
people.

V. Conclusion
A. By supporting Springboks, Nelson Mandela proved how sports can unite a divided
nation.
B. Recognizing the transformative power of sports, Mandela led by example and
supported the personification of Apartheid, which was Springboks. By forgiving their
oppressors, he was able to show that their ideals can be achieved through peaceful
means.
C. He once said, “no one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin,
or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to
hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart
than its opposite.” By not holding any bitterness and seeking revenge, Mandela was
able to demonstrate remarkable leadership qualities.