Nelson Mandela, Elder Statesman

The phrase Madiba Magic was coined at the 1995 Rugby World Cup when then President Nelson Mandela showed up in the captain's number 6 jersey.

Rugby has always been a white sport in South Africa and until 1991; Nelson Mandela had been in prison for 27 years, branded as a “terrorist." One year after the first democratic general elections, South Africa was back in international sport but the people of South Africa were still uneasy; they didn’t know if reconciliation was actually possible.

1995 Rugby World Cup - Madiba Magic is born

Then Nelson Mandela stepped up and supported the 1995 Springbok team and against all odds they won the World Rugby Cup at Ellis Park – Madiba Magic was born. Read this moving 1995 Rugby World Cup Story of Madiba Magic as told by then Springbok Captain Francois Pienaar and vice captain Joost van der Westhuizen.

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Happy Birthday Tata Madiba

Well today, the main story is the birthday of our beloved Tata Madiba, who turns 89 today.

Markinor ran a survey last week and Media 24 lead with this story today:

Madiba: SA's best-loved figure
18/07/2007 10:10 - (SA)

Johannesburg - Like a good wine, former president Nelson Mandela is becoming more popular with age, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

On his 89th birthday, he was still the most loved public figure amongst South Africans.

Madiba scored an average rating of 9.2 out of 10, making him the country's most beloved leader, indicated a Markinor poll.

A total of 3 500 people representing South Africa's adult population were asked the question: "How would you rate Nelson Mandela on a scale from 10 to zero, where 10 means you are totally in favour of him and zero means you are totally against him?"

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