Sports, sustainable development and equity: Rugby, equitably letting the middle-income nation win

JOHANNESBURG, 20 October 2007. Thankfully South Africa won. You can see my videos of the celebrations in Melville on youtube. In addition, to Business Day proclaiming this “victory” to be a turning point for the nation [see “The End of Transformation” by Andile Mngxitama in Business Day], we also hear that:

• The South African Rugby took out insurance against the Springboks winning to avoid paying out the squad bonuses – the insurance has allegedly already paid out!
• Squad bonuses total ZAR 1.5 million per player
• Bonuses were higher in 1995 for the winning team
• Brian Habana is expected to earn millions in endorsements and other promotions and is expected to replace Jonah Lomu as the worldwide face of rugby
• The football team’s nickname will be changed from Bafana Bafana [translates as boys-boys] – probably [back to] the Springboks thanks to Thabo Mbeki’s intervention

But the country really wants to know HOW is the football team going to jump from 83rd in the world to lift the Football World Cup on homesoil in 2010!