The Proteas are an inspiration, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Wednesday. ”They are living our dream: successful, non-racial and gracious,” he said following their outstanding win over the Australian cricket team.
Tutu said the team provided a lesson in how people of different cultures, circumstances and backgrounds could pull together as one.
He said two pictures from the Proteas’ tour to Australia had impressed him.
”The first, following the captain’s brave effort in the third Test at Sydney, captured Graeme Smith and Makhaya Ntini together, arm in arm, brothers in arms.
”The second, following the one-day series clinching victory this week, featured batting heroes Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers in a similar embrace.”
Tutu said it was a pity that cricket did not have a higher profile in countries such as the United States, Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that the whole world would benefit from exposure to the scenes of South Africa’s triumph.
”So normal, yet, in a world full of challenges, such a beacon of hope. Of course, Smith and De Villiers are white, and Ntini and Amla are black, but that’s not the half of it. They are also English, Afrikaans and Xhosa speaking, Christian and Muslim.” — Sapa