In an effort to unite the nation behind the national rugby team, an ‘inclusive’
theme song, ‘Shosholoza’, was chosen for the Springbok team. Yet, ironically,
the song was traditionally sung by migrant workers as they travelled from
Zimbabwe to work in South African mines. Thus, a workers’ song sung by men
who went to their early deaths in the gold mines was a central cultural element
in the presentation of the new and unified South Africa.9 While the event and
ultimate victory of the national team succeeded in temporarily bringing South
Africans together across massive cultural divides, the terms of engagement were
clearly one-sided and the national euphoria proved illusory.