Impact on New Zealand
Immediately after the South African rugby team left New Zealand, the country was left with a scene of social order which was completely different to the previous equal and humane perception it used to have of itself.
By the end of the tour, between 100 000 and 150 000 people had been involved in protests, participating in at least one of over 200 demonstrations all over the country. After the departure of the Springboks, one anti-apartheid activist observed:
By the end of the tour, between 100 000 and 150 000 people had been involved in protests, participating in at least one of over 200 demonstrations all over the country. After the departure of the Springboks, one anti-apartheid activist observed:
Despite the mobilisation of tens of thousands on the street, and of thousands willing to confront the police, wearing helmets and carrying shields to protect themselves from the unprecedented scale of police violence, the movement evaporated as quickly as it had formed. Focused on a single issue and with a predetermined timeframe, the momentum was lost once the Springboks had left the country. Of course it was inevitable that the intensity of activity could not have been sustained without a tangible target, and that exhaustion would take its toll. But the reality was that most people simply retreated back into their old lives... and engaged in no further radical political activity.
The tour had created divisions in the country that lasted for a long period of time after the reflections on the protests themselves had passed. Some people saw the tour and protests as representing all the wrong in the country including "the arrogance of the political leadership, the pattern and effects of colonial dispossession, the maintenance of patriarchal power." It was this power that allegedly endorsed "apartheid as legitimate." Doug Rollerson, an All Black in 1981 believed the tour was right to gone ahead. In 2006, he reflected on the tour saying it was important for the Springboks to come to New Zealand and see a multiracial society living in relative harmony. More importantly, beating them was almost a way of confirming that apartheid was wrong. In a sense, Rollerson was showing politics and sport did mix and were inseparable. New Zealand as a country had lost its innocence in 1981. The tour had brought into light the issues of racism and bigotry which New Zealand had assumed it was free of. There was a livelier element in society that developed as it showed people were prepared to stand for what they believed in. The All Blacks and the Springboks did not play each other again until 1992 when apartheid was abolished.
Muldoon was voted out and when Labour came to power again, new legislations such as the nuclear-free and homosexual law reform were introduced. Both of these struck at the core of New Zealand's values and image.
Muldoon was voted out and when Labour came to power again, new legislations such as the nuclear-free and homosexual law reform were introduced. Both of these struck at the core of New Zealand's values and image.
Impact on Apartheid
The Springbok Tour 1981 in New Zealand received much publicity and as a result, contributed largely to the breakdown of apartheid in South Africa.
The protests in by the anti-apartheid movement successfully drew attention to the racist issues in South Africa. As a result, international countries were outraged, pressuring South Africa to change its policies. John Minto, says he has heard about how the disorder from 1981 in New Zealand impacted on Pretoria, South Africa. There, more blacks were becoming urbanised and joining trade unions. Due to both internal and external pressure, the government were more loose on some apartheid laws. Soon in 1990, the apartheid began collapsing. In the same year, Nelson Mandela was freed from prison and became the first black president of South Africa in 1994, in the first elections held under universal suffrage. This was a breakthrough for society and especially for the blacks of South Africa.
The protests in by the anti-apartheid movement successfully drew attention to the racist issues in South Africa. As a result, international countries were outraged, pressuring South Africa to change its policies. John Minto, says he has heard about how the disorder from 1981 in New Zealand impacted on Pretoria, South Africa. There, more blacks were becoming urbanised and joining trade unions. Due to both internal and external pressure, the government were more loose on some apartheid laws. Soon in 1990, the apartheid began collapsing. In the same year, Nelson Mandela was freed from prison and became the first black president of South Africa in 1994, in the first elections held under universal suffrage. This was a breakthrough for society and especially for the blacks of South Africa.