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Proteas' WTC win is redemption for unsung black players who went before
South Africa has long chased Desmond Tutu's vision. On June 14 at Lord's, it finally felt within reach
Kumar Abishek
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On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela skipped his own inauguration parties. Instead, he sat among a largely Black crowd at Ellis Park, watching South Africa play Zambia in football. 'I wanted our people to know how much I appreciated the sacrifices made by our athletes during the boycott,' he said. A year later, at the same stadium, he walked onto a rugby pitch wearing a Springbok jersey — an apartheid-era symbol — and handed the World Cup to a stunned Francois Pienaar.
It was a gesture loaded with grace, timing, and vision. Mandela knew: In a country broken by race
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