Apartheid is also considered as a key cause of the Anti-Springbok Tour Protest. In 1981, the
apartheid system was at its spiteful peak in South Africa; memories were still
fresh of the 1976 Soweto revolution, when the South African security forces
gunned down black school children in the streets for protesting against
discriminatory schooling. South Africa was fighting a war in Namibia and was
projecting its war into the “frontline states” of Angola and Mozambique with effective
freedom.
The campaign to compete against the Springbok tour of New Zealand was part of a huge international campaign to separate South Africa in every aspect of its international dealings. There was a widely supported boycott of South African exports, a campaign to prevent trade with the Republic, and a sporting and cultural boycott. In New Zealand, the campaign had really kicked off with the “No Maoris No Tour” campaigns in the 1960s, a response to the South African demand that teams touring South Africa “respect” South Africa’s apartheid system and select only white players for their national squads. South Africa’s response to that campaign was to grant “honorary white” status to Maori All Blacks, thereby allowing them to stay in the “Whites Only” team hotel, travel on the team bus etc, rather than use the lower standard “Blacks Only” facilities they would normally have been restricted to. The activists leading the anti-apartheid movement saw this as mere window dressing” and argued that even a fully merit based South African team would not be sufficient to lift the boycott since the boycott was not really about sport, but a lever to use against the apartheid system as a whole.
The campaign to compete against the Springbok tour of New Zealand was part of a huge international campaign to separate South Africa in every aspect of its international dealings. There was a widely supported boycott of South African exports, a campaign to prevent trade with the Republic, and a sporting and cultural boycott. In New Zealand, the campaign had really kicked off with the “No Maoris No Tour” campaigns in the 1960s, a response to the South African demand that teams touring South Africa “respect” South Africa’s apartheid system and select only white players for their national squads. South Africa’s response to that campaign was to grant “honorary white” status to Maori All Blacks, thereby allowing them to stay in the “Whites Only” team hotel, travel on the team bus etc, rather than use the lower standard “Blacks Only” facilities they would normally have been restricted to. The activists leading the anti-apartheid movement saw this as mere window dressing” and argued that even a fully merit based South African team would not be sufficient to lift the boycott since the boycott was not really about sport, but a lever to use against the apartheid system as a whole.
Apartheid was the reason for segregated South African sport, because of this, many people in New Zealand felt that it was not acceptable in this time to have such segregation still going on and treating one race higher to the other when in many countries both races were considered equals and no segregation should be occurring. This meant many people felt that we should not be encouraging sporting ties with South Africa if this was going to happen.
When the tour arrived in New Zealand in 1981 many people protested so that their voices would be heard. The All Blacks had accepted an invitation to tour South Africa in 1976 – a time when world attention was firmly fixed on the republic because of the Soweto riots. Hundreds were killed as the authorities ruthlessly suppressed protests. An All Blacks’ tour under such conditions was not only unbearable to many New Zealanders but also attracted international criticism.
When the tour arrived in New Zealand in 1981 many people protested so that their voices would be heard. The All Blacks had accepted an invitation to tour South Africa in 1976 – a time when world attention was firmly fixed on the republic because of the Soweto riots. Hundreds were killed as the authorities ruthlessly suppressed protests. An All Blacks’ tour under such conditions was not only unbearable to many New Zealanders but also attracted international criticism.