Freedom Cup
“It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.” – Nelson Mandela
Yesterday we experienced an unforgettable day at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium. We travelled into the Mother City for a day of rugby.
A capacity crowd was expected to watch the Springboks take on the All Blacks in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
To avoid heavy traffic congestion in the city centre, spectators were urged to park remotely and catch free MyCiTi buses from various park and ride locations. This was all well organised and free of charge to the public.
We arrived early, in time to watch the Springbok Women playing the Barbarians. Final score was 59-17 victory to the Springbok Women.
The excitement mounted for the main event.
There was a super impressive opening ceremony. There was a flash and chant performance by Hoerskool Tygerberg students in the middle of the pitch. Dancers representing multi-cultural Cape Town gave an energetic performance, a dazzling display and a celebration of the city’s diversity.
The next spectacle was a fabulous explosion of colour and not one, but two planes doing the fly-over!
The only moment of quiet during the whole all evening was when we watched the All Blacks perfom the Haka.
Of course there was lots of great rugby from both teams, including a try from Springboks captain, Siya Kolisi (playing with a broken nose) and another Springboks win over New Zealand, the fourth in a row.
🇿🇦 18-12 🇳🇿
South Africa won the Freedom Cup, so fitting in this year, celebrating 30 years of democracy in South Africa.
As I watched Siya Kolisi and the Springboks team walking around the stadium with the Freedom cup, taking time to stop to greet fans and take selfies with them, I thought of Mandela. This rugby team has united so many people across this vast country. The stadium was filled with people from so many different backgrounds, all together behind this one team.
The rainbow nation. We partied it up, Mother City style!
©Maggie M / Mother City Time