Of Mandela and Rugby

I just finished reading Playing the Enemy, by John Carlin. Fantastic read. This book is the basis for Clint Eastwood's newest film, Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman as the South African leader, and Matt Damon as François Pienaar, captain of the Springbok squad that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup. I have to say, I have yet to see the film, but it's been gathering some very positive reviews.

Anyways, back to the book...

Carlin tells a great story, of how Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup to bind the people of South Africa together. A premise that might sound Disney-esque if it weren't for it actually being real. But the book is no 'underdog wins it all' story, but rather an exploration of Nelson Mandela's actions and nation-building talent, his odyssey from prison to presidency, and his vision for his country. It also depicts, through interviews, the evolution of thought of certain key characters in South African history, but also of some minor players, average people, both black and white, giving us a very human view of the leader and the country.

The story begins with Mandela in jail, and slowly progresses towards his eventual liberation, to his election as president, to the World Cup. One thing Carlin does brilliantly is showing what was going on at different levels of the government. And that is quite a feat, to portray the heads of South Africa's apartheid government as human beings - fallible, of course, but all the more human because of this.

Chronologically the book starts while Mandela was still a prisoner at Robben Island, somewhere in the mid-80s, and progresses until right after the '95 World Cup. A short coda is given, telling us where the main characters of the book are now. And through interviews recounting the events, the story becomes one of those yarns that almost feels like fiction. Indeed, the story of Nelson Mandela and South Africa might almost be a fairy tale.

What's not to like about the book? Well, probably the one weakness is the over-romanticising of the story. One game, even one World Cup final, do not a nation build. It is clear that this was a big step in the right direction, and an inspired decision for Mandela, but Carlin makes it look as if this game was the focal point upon which the new nation would be built. History tells us that the country went through big turmoil before reaching stability Many different factors contributed to it being reached, and if one of them had been absent (say, if the Springboks had lost the World Cup) the outcome would have been barely different, if at all. But Carlin is here to sell us the epic story of one of the great leaders of our time and his idea of using sport as something over which differences might be forgotten and new worldviews formed.

In the end we have a story that, while factual, is fantastic enough to be made into a movie. But the important part is not the rugby match. It was the work and life of a great leader, the kind of which nations are lucky to have once every other generation. A leader to inspire a country and the world. The rugby is just the icing on the cake.