Mandela supports Proteas 'all the way'

Nelson Mandela smiled broadly when he spoke about the Proteas, who will be leaving for the Cricket World Cup soon, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.

“Go teach them a lesson ... come back and hand over the trophy to Mandela.

I promised him this morning that you will be doing your best and will make the country proud,” Zuma told the national cricket team at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria.

“When he spoke about you he smiled broadly. He supports you all the way and will be watching you.”

Zuma visited Mandela earlier on Tuesday, leading to a delay of more than an hour in meeting the Proteas.

He assured them that South Africans were confident about the team and thereby wished them all the success in the Cricket World Cup 2011 in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, from February 19.—Sapa