Factual: Politics

Sport

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Archive on 4

Documentaries

Factual

Brilliant stories told using archive from the BBC and beyond.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Archive on 4: Soccer, Springboks and Segregation

Soccer, Springboks and Segregation

20/03/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, Soccer, Springboks and Segregation

Allan Little examines the role of sport in the politics of South Africa.

As South Africa prepares to host the 2010 World Cup, Allan Little examines the role that sport has played in the republic's politics and in forming its international reputation.

As South Africa prepares to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Allan Little examines the role that sport has played in the republic's internal politics and in forming its international reputation. 

South Africa is a country often divided both within itself and from the rest of the world. For decades sport was tarnished by class and racial divides. Two sporting cultures existed - one for whites, one for blacks - each with its own pantheon of heroes, triumphs and tragedies. Archive on 4 explores the role of sport in South Africa's history, from the Gleneagles Agreement that saw the Republic banned from worldwide competition, to the rebel tours in cricket and rugby and the athletes who were forced to leave their homeland in order to compete on the world stage. 

Allan Little was there when South Africa won the Rugby World Cup; so too was Nelson Mandela, who was wearing Francois Pienaar's shirt - a highly significant gesture, symbolising the fact that he was not so much a white Afrikaner but the captain of a team the whole nation could support.
 
Allan charts the events that put South African sport on the front pages and assesses how the end of apartheid, the introduction of the controversial race quota systems in sport and the hosting of international tournaments like the rugby and football World Cups have affected the country's sport and society.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Archive on 4

Soccer, Springboks and Segregation

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4