Many consequences had occurred during the 1981 Springbok Tour Protest. A long term consequence that we could consider as one the most important consequences was that this tour helped bring an end to the anti-apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid hadn't fully ended until the 90's, although many people believe that the Springbok
tour protest was a starting point for Nelson Mandela’s freedom, he was freed
from prison on February 1990 and initiated as the first democratically elected
state president of South Africa on 10 May 1994. The 1981 tour was part of a
long process that led to this significant change in South Africa, and in this
respect, it represented New Zealand’s contribution towards a major
international event in the closing decades of the 20th century. One of the other consequences was that the support for rugby had been stopped and people went to football, another consequence would be that the first time in History, rugby in New Zealand had become a source of another also we could say that people were fed up with the national government because the government said that "people and sport don't mix."
Another long term consequence that we could consider would be the great divide between families due to this event. Others watched South Africa's racial policies divide friends and family. Gweyneth Hyndman spoke to people who witnessed the impact 30 years ago, when the Springboks played Southland at Invercargill's Rugby Park on August 8.
Ray Harper was a rugby administrator and national councillor on the New Zealand Rugby Union during the 1981 Springbok tour:
"The tour split families; it split friends. It was unbelievable how it affected
people – it is very hard to explain that to a young person now.
We had barbed wire around the grounds about eight weeks before they
played here, and rugby clubs took turns patrolling the grounds.
Rugby was of two minds in New Zealand. Most of us felt that apartheid
didn't have anything to do with us. There were 14 of us on the Rugby Union;
demonstrators had just broken a fence down at one of the games, and we all had
our doubts about continuing. In Wellington, we were told to go on with it, that
the police didn't want to be seen as backing down because of the protests.
You could have cut the tension in (the rugby council) room with a knife.
It grew into ... well, we don't want to see this kind of thing in New Zealand
again. It just developed and then before you knew it the demonstration became
more than the game by miles. In a country like ours we don't need that.
Later on, the rules in South Africa changed – I don't know, I don't know
if we'll ever know, will we – if the protests here had any impact on that.
This is quite a strong rugby province – people would come from Riversdale
and spend a whole night [patrolling] at the grounds. No-one knew what to expect
from the protests. I found out later police were coming by my house every two
hours to make sure everything was all right. I was away at that time, and my
wife was here on her own.
The (Southland) team was good – it was a tremendous thing to play South
Africa. We thought of it as a game; didn't think about the politics.
We never talked about the politics of it either. Even after. The South
Africans were gone and then it was all over. We just shut up shop on it. It was
a subject, even in the pubs, that was never brought up."
Support for the Springbok tour was particularly strong in rural and small-town New Zealand. In the Taranaki dairy town of Eltham, 50 lonely protestors were showered with eggs and bottles as they marched up the street one Friday night. In the 1981 general election National held on to power because it won provincial seats that might have fallen, such as Gisborne and Whangarei.
Ray Harper was a rugby administrator and national councillor on the New Zealand Rugby Union during the 1981 Springbok tour:
"The tour split families; it split friends. It was unbelievable how it affected
people – it is very hard to explain that to a young person now.
We had barbed wire around the grounds about eight weeks before they
played here, and rugby clubs took turns patrolling the grounds.
Rugby was of two minds in New Zealand. Most of us felt that apartheid
didn't have anything to do with us. There were 14 of us on the Rugby Union;
demonstrators had just broken a fence down at one of the games, and we all had
our doubts about continuing. In Wellington, we were told to go on with it, that
the police didn't want to be seen as backing down because of the protests.
You could have cut the tension in (the rugby council) room with a knife.
It grew into ... well, we don't want to see this kind of thing in New Zealand
again. It just developed and then before you knew it the demonstration became
more than the game by miles. In a country like ours we don't need that.
Later on, the rules in South Africa changed – I don't know, I don't know
if we'll ever know, will we – if the protests here had any impact on that.
This is quite a strong rugby province – people would come from Riversdale
and spend a whole night [patrolling] at the grounds. No-one knew what to expect
from the protests. I found out later police were coming by my house every two
hours to make sure everything was all right. I was away at that time, and my
wife was here on her own.
The (Southland) team was good – it was a tremendous thing to play South
Africa. We thought of it as a game; didn't think about the politics.
We never talked about the politics of it either. Even after. The South
Africans were gone and then it was all over. We just shut up shop on it. It was
a subject, even in the pubs, that was never brought up."
Support for the Springbok tour was particularly strong in rural and small-town New Zealand. In the Taranaki dairy town of Eltham, 50 lonely protestors were showered with eggs and bottles as they marched up the street one Friday night. In the 1981 general election National held on to power because it won provincial seats that might have fallen, such as Gisborne and Whangarei.