This time last year, Genevieve Brown was in a dark place. Her marriage had ended, her career as a police officer was falling apart and she’d recently been diagnosed as bipolar. The stress caused her hair to fall out in large clumps as she spiralled into depression.
While scrolling through channels from her bed, Brown – a member of the Coloured community, a term used to describe people of mixed race heritage in South Africa which does not carry the stigma it has in other parts of the world – happened upon a rugby match.
She’d never identified as a fan of the sport but found herself transfixed. On the screen, in perfect synchronicity, the New Zealand All Blacks were performing the Haka before a match at the World Cup in France.
“I thought, ‘What is this all about?” says the 44-year-old from Mitchells Plain, a large residential area to the south of Cape Town that was developed after tens of thousands of Coloured people were forcefully evicted from their homes around the city. “I was captivated. It was like this spiritual sensation in me. I can’t explain but I felt so moved by what I was witnessing.
“I started to do my research. I learnt about the Maori and Pacific Island people and I fell in love with the culture and their customs. I learned about New Zealand rugby and how they stood against apartheid and why so many Coloured people supported them. From there I started to watch the World Cup. It got me out of my house. I went to pubs to watch the All Blacks and I started talking to people again. I fell in love with Ardie Savea! I can definitely say that the All Blacks helped me turn my life around.”
Without knowing it, Brown had become a member of a small but controversial group of rugby supporters in South Africa. Mostly situated in the Western Cape and belonging to the Coloured community, they’ve been called traitors, sell-outs and worse. They’ve been derided for turning rugby fandom into a political act and have been met with antipathy by Springboks supporters who struggle to understand how any South African could support their great rivals.
A powerful story of change 🥹#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/9OSY5uPipr
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 5, 2024
“That support is rooted in apartheid and what the Springboks emblem meant for people like me and my family,” explains Jeremy Marillier, a 54-year-old consultant and director across multiple companies in the fishing industry. “That history is well known. It explains why Coloured and so-called non-white South Africans might have started supporting the All Blacks. But it doesn’t explain why so many still support the All Blacks today.”
Marillier, who grew up at a time when anyone who looked like him was barred from representing South Africa on the sports field, believes that South African All Blacks supporters are too easily dismissed as being “anti-establishment”. He says “people assume we’re mad or like to cause trouble or only take the less beaten tracks. But that’s not it. There’s more to being an All Blacks supporter than merely trying to rebel against South Africa and the established view.”
In 2018 the South African writer Stephen Coplan argued these fans are both an “anachronism” who “employ a strategy of political provocation developed decades ago to bring apartheid governments down”. But Coplan also suggested they have a “contemporary relevance” given the Springboks’ slow rate of racial transformation in a country that is predominantly black.
That article, written for the online publication Africa is a Country, was published in February that year, four months before Siya Kolisi became the first black Springboks captain at the start of a truly transformative journey. Since then, Bongi Mbonambi and Lukhanyo Am have skippered the side. So too has Salmaan Moerat, who this year became the first Muslim to lead the Springboks on the pitch.
While one cannot ignore the weight of history, nor dismiss the inarguable fact the Springboks emblem was once a totem of white minority rule in a totalitarian state, there has been real change throughout the organisation that now claims to represent all South Africans. Rassie Erasmus has wrapped his rugby project in the flag of the nation. For many supporters, the Springboks are not merely a rugby team but a beacon of South Africa’s potential.
“Firstly, I think all forms of nationalism are dangerous and should be viewed with caution,” says Dylan Moodaley, a 33-year-old environmental consultant and an ardent New Zealand rugby fan. “The support for the All Blacks was passed on from my family but the political associations are more with the older generation. I don’t have that intimate knowledge of the oppression of apartheid. It’s just that the Springboks don’t give me goosebumps. I don’t get that same feeling that some other people might feel.”
Moodaley inherited his love for the silver fern from his father but it was the team’s swashbuckling approach to the game, as well as their dominance, that cemented the bond. He became steeped in New Zealand rugby lore and also began supporting the Crusaders from Christchurch. And even though his links with these sides were not political, nor did he regard his support for them as acts of rebellion, he was all the same painted with the same brush.
A bunch of white fans turned around and started swearing at us. It became racial. We were mostly Coloured supporters and it became very ugly.
“I’ve copped a lot of abuse,” Moodaley explains. “I’ve been lucky enough to watch the All Blacks around the world, including New Zealand, but I no longer wear my jersey in South Africa at games. Not since 2012 [in Soweto]. New Zealand won [32-16] and we were celebrating in a large group. But a bunch of white fans turned around and started swearing at us. It became racial. We were mostly Coloured supporters and it became very ugly.
“Then in 2013 at Newlands, I was wearing a Crusaders shirt for a game against the Stormers and this guy cornered me in the bathroom and started giving me abuse. I swore back and it almost got really ugly. Since then I just don’t engage. It’s that sort of nationalism that I find really distasteful. It’s nationalism that led to fascism in Italy and the Nazis. It’s archaic and we have to be careful around it.”
Links between the Nazis and the Springboks will likely be jarring for many supporters of the green and gold. Especially those who have been swept up by a discourse that has morphed into mythology over the past six years. Two World Cup wins have each garnered blockbuster documentary series that have tugged at heart strings and brought tears to the eyes of even the most stoney-hearted fan.
“I’m proud of guys like Siya, Cheslin [Kolbe], Makazole [Mapimpi] and all the other guys who have overcome terrible situations to represent our country,” says Jade Craig, a 37-year-old project manager from Bloemfontein and a founding member of the Rugby Scoop podcast. “It’s amazing what they’ve achieved and I’m patriotic, so I hate it when people say that I’m not. I love South Africa. That doesn’t mean I have to love the Springboks.”
Craig’s support for the All Blacks started in 1996. While living in Kimberly, he attended a New Zealand training session ahead of the team’s tour match against Griqualand West which would end in a famous 18-18 draw. Craig still has two balls signed by the side as well as a picture of himself with Zinzan Brooke. But his favourite memory is meeting Jonah Lomu, who married his friend’s sister, Tanya Rutter, later that year.
Not that any of these caveats matter to critics. All Blacks supporters in South Africa are branded as Cape Crusaders – in reference to the Christchurch franchise – or sometimes Manenberg Maoris, which is both a racialised dig as well as a nod to a particularly under-resourced suburb predominantly inhabited by Coloured people.
“I hate the term Cape Crusaders,” Moodealey says. “It used to bother me,” Marillier adds, “but I’ve developed a thick skin. I know why I support the team and on Saturday [for the Test against South Africa in Cape Town] I’ll be wearing my jersey, I’ll have my flag and I’ll have my custom made All Blacks shoes! I don’t need anyone’s permission to show my support.”
Perceptions have softened over the years. In 2013 Bryan Habana tweeted his contempt: “If I had the money I would happily buy all these “Cape Crusaders” a one way ticket to Christchurch!!” Erasmus, though, recently poured cold water on the subject when he said South Africans must “respect their view” and acknowledged the “bitterness and heartache that has contributed to some people supporting the All Blacks”.
If I had the money I would happily buy all these “Cape Crusaders” a one way ticket to Christchurch!!#disappointedproudsouthafrican
— Bryan Habana (@BryanHabana) March 30, 2013
On Saturday there will be a large contingent of South Africans wearing black inside Cape Town Stadium. They’ll each have their own reasons for supporting their country’s fiercest rivals. Some carry the pain of generational trauma. Others are simply taken by the aura of a team that still provides the most compelling watch when at their best.
Whatever their reason, their loyalty should not be questioned. Either to the All Blacks or to the country they call home.
I’m not a South African, so I can’t really appreciate all the intricacies of this issue.
Also, I understand why in the times of apartheid, people would root against the country, that oppressed them. While sad, it’s understandable.
But today? When the team is lead by an inspirational black captain and full of black and colored players (who all are there on merit - as evidenced by the back-to-back RWC golds), coached by a guy, whose genuine and deep love for his country can be seen all the way from Earth’s orbit, a team that actually represents All South Africans?
Of course, people are free to support whomever they want, but I’m also free to have an opinion about it. And mine is, that those who still support the ABs for the sins of the past live in the past, imprisoned by resentment and cultivated victimhood. And maybe I’m wrong to think that, and maybe they are.
I’m simply stunned by the idea of rooting against one’s own country. There's an element to it, that’s borderline anti-social.
10 years after apartheid ended I met a colored girl that stole my heart. We were both young and suffered horrendous abuse from white and colored people. We could not go out without the tannies giving us dirty looks and the ooms dropping ugly comments or wanting to pick a fight. The colored guys asked her what does he have that we don't and also were very hostile. In the end as time passed people became accepting of things like interratial relationships and racism only rears it's ugly head now and then. It is wonderful to see a 60 year old white guy screaming his lungs out as Arendse runs through Aus or debating if Marx or Bongi should start and all on merit. The past cannot be changed but we can learn from it and be better tomorrow. The Springboks are truely the best of us in South Africa and they bring the best out of us. I will never forget the 95 world cup final. When the Bokke won it was the closest thing to unity South Africa has ever experienced.
The Maori have also been treated terribly by Europen settlers over the centuries, BUT you'll NEVER see a Maori rugby supporter wearing ANYTHING BUT AN ALL BLACK JUMPER.
And THIS my friends is why South Africa remains fractured. People who were born long after the Apartheid regime were defeated, still being brainwashed to hate their own country. And it seems very endemic with the "Coloured" community, in Cape Town, especially. I have yet to see a group of Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho or Pedi supporters wearing All Black jumpers at AB vs Bok games...Nope, they are Green and Gold from head to toe. I heard someone say once, the reason Coloured people in SA were so bitter still, is "because they weren't white enough to dodge the apartheid segregation laws, but also not black enough to ride the gravy train and partake in post-apartheid ANC corruption to line their pockets..."
The Maori will support the All Blacks, in spite of how their race was treated.
THIS friends, is how you build unity.
Be the change you want to see, and stop poisoning yourself with the past.
Agreed on the bitterness comment, coloured are the most separatist in behaviours today in RSA. I think the general bitterness also comes from widespread corruption, lack of reliable services (water, garbage collection, police, power). That said, there is joy in RSA and lots of pride in the boks. The boks are a unifying force for the country that you have to see for yourself. Go bokke!
They’ll come around eventually. The boks winning definitely helps converting a few of them every year.
Maybe the author should write about the Moriori people and highlight the shameful atrocities that happened to them. Every country has its history!
You really should stop for a second and think before talking about something you know nothing about. Moriori are an offshoot of early tribal settlers who migrated to the Chatham Islands. A Waikato tribe invaded their land, and subsequently killed and enslaved their people over many years. Waikato Māori were warriors, and existed in a land of conflict and limited resources. You needed to kill opposing tribes to gain resources and land, and enslave others to maintain and/ or grow your population. Concepts such as farming and such didn't fully exist for them. They did nothing remotely different to any other warrior tribe that has ever existed worldwide.
Idk what you think you're achieving with this comment (but it's incredibly misguided) and comparing it to the systemic, racist enslavement of people due to the colour of their skin in the modern era is quite frankly insulting.
New Zealand does not have the shiny history when it comes to South African Apartheid that we like to pretend we do.
It took decades of (now shameful) pandering to white supremacist whims in the name of sport.
Top athletes missed out on touring to South Africa because of their race.
There were All Blacks, people in the rugby community who opposed Apartheid but most were complicit.
This is true - Squidge Rugby did an interesting youtube on the long history of the AB-bok series. Every country has a shameful history when it comes to racism. Today the problems are different - RSA has corruption and power cuts, NZ has a housing issue and a need to return all the islanders they kidnapped to play rugby ;)
Why wouldn't you want to support the all blacks they are historically the best team in rugby it would be like being a Manchester United Fan living in Liverpool. All Blacks and NZ also played their part in moving South Africa away from its dark past into the rainbow nation through protest and boycott and being the goaliths for Francois Pienaar to overcome to lift the World Cup in 1995 and bring the country together
I agree in principle. I support the ABs for any test other than against SA. Because of their greatness. But not ahead of my own country which is quite unique to the Cape.
The support for the All Blacks out of the Cape started before the ABs were as dominant, in fact during the time when the springboks were the most successful and dominant team in the world. It was politically motivated.
As mentioned by others in the comments section, while many people in NZ certainly played their part in protesting and calling for the end of apartheid, the All Blacks were themselves quite complicit in working with the apartheid government at the time to make tours happen. Including rebel tours whilst SA was banned from sports internationally. And arranging honorary white status for Maori rugby players.
So it’s ironic in some ways that people turned to supporting the All Blacks as an anti-apartheid stance - when in fact the ABs themselves were quite complicit with the apartheid government at the time.
But since they did, the tradition has continued. With people still supporting the ABs for sentimental reasons. And so the question now is whether the boks are converting Cape AB fans.
I read with interest that Herschel Jantjies supported the ABs into his teen years before eventually becoming a Bok supporter.
Support who you like. SAFers don't have to agree on everything
While true that we should afford our compatriots the respect to follow their hearts and support whomsoever they please, I do think it is a little more complicated than many want to admit. I grew up in Cape Town, played with coloured players all my life, dated them, had them as friends since childhood and continue to have them as colleagues and friends to this day. While some may deny it, there definitely is a case for many of them sticking to their guns on this issue because of some historical differences, the close association of the Boks with the apartheid establishment, frustration with the slow pace of transformation (before Rassie) and even the Boks' style of play and perceived tactical preference for larger and burly players (mostly Afrikaner-white) at the expense of smaller, faster and more skilled players (mostly coloured, as black African players usually slot in somewhere in the middle between these two extremes). My humble view is that since 2018, these South Africans may have missed out on the greatest era of Springbok rugby, and may have missed out on the great changes to the team and its culture, brought about by the great rugby thinker and visionary, Rassie Erasmus. Right through the 2023 RWC, I noticed that my coloured friends and neighbours felt rather out of place and forlorn in their inability to be seen to be getting behind their country's team, and that's just sad to me. It looked like an identity crisis, more than anything. I'm not expecting or demanding of anyone to support any team, but it's sad when people catch themselves and want to disappear from public because their own country's team is winning big games. Lastly, the white supporters who threaten coloured AB supporters are actually making it worse. We will all heal in our own terms. For now, to the fellow South Africans who have learned to overcome and got behind their country's team out of a sense of patriotism (NOT NATIONALISM, learn the difference), long may this continue and you are part of the few strong positives healing our nation. To those who would like to join at some point, you don't need any permission to get behind your country.
I agree with you 100%. I was classified as white but I had a special affinity with many people from District Six . I played and sang in The Naaz nightclub many times and listened in awe to the then Dollar Brand and occasionally Miriam Makeba. I believe that the destruction of District Six ranked among the very worst atrocities committed in the name of Apartheid. am very sad that the descendants of that incredible town. Much later I joined The Cape Argus newspaper and made many more friends of all colours. That was when I first encountered the Cape support for the All Blacks. Many times people told me they would support the Springboks when apartheid ended. Later it was when other than white players got a fair shake at becoming a Bok. Now I suppose if you grow up in a household where the parents tell you we support New Zealand not South Africa it takes a specially independent minded person to buck the trend especially as their parents would most likely associate with like minded people. I do think it does cause somewhat of an identity crisis when you can't celebrate a nation's success together with the vast majority of the population. There are not enough NZ supporting people in the Cape to be of any influence outside a very tiny minority. Don't be fooled by numbers at the ground. That is one game every ten or so years that the entire NZ supporting community would not miss under any circumstances. So their numbers at the ground belie a very large support base for the All Blacks.
Yup but it takes time to heal, you can't just click your fingers. Things could easily regress from the positive picture you paint of things now with just a single change in personal. It's OK to support both teams is the better message than not needing permission to enjoy one of them.
Other than Chiliboy Ralapele.
Perhaps I could have caveated that with "Test captain".
It’s convenient for SA supports to not want to make it political when under Apartheid it was all about politics. The Springboks have made incredible strides and they are playing fantastic rugby. But with hair cuts worn by 13 and 16 it’s hard to say that fascism and racism are completely out of the SA side.
Grow up! Judging people by haircuts smh
agreed they also forget they didn't only apply apartheid to their own teams but touring teams too Maori and pacific players were only allowed to play as 'honorary whites'
Now you're judging people on how they look and how they cut their hair, not on their actions or who they are. Racist and prejudiced behavior. Shame on you.
🤣🤡