South African rugby chiefs said on Friday that the Springboks would tour Soweto on their nationwide World Cup victory parade after an outcry over a decision to bypass the country’s biggest township.
”Tomorrow morning [Saturday] our team, the coach, the manager, the captain, early in the morning, are going to Soweto,” said SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins, speaking at the Union Buildings in Pretoria where the team began their parade.
The team met on Friday morning with President Thabo Mbeki before embarking on a ticker-tape parade through the streets of the capital. They are due in nearby Johannesburg later on Friday.
SA Rugby, already under fire over the lack of black players in the Springbok team, said on Thursday it had decided to strike Soweto off its initial list of venues because of time constraints.
The announcement that the Soweto leg of the parade had been scrapped was seen as a snub in the township, where locals had already prepared banners to welcome their heroes. — AFP
