Sunday Times, 9 November 1986

By Janine Lazarus

Jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela will be one of the international personalities to be informed of a break-through in South Africa's national sport - rugby.

Stellenbosch University's Akker Rugby Football Club, which is affiliated to the Boland League, a member of the black South African Rugby Association, crash-tackled racial barriers in March this year.

Now it plans to send out a brochure highlighting the breakthrough - and Nelson Mandela is on the mailing list.

Initiated by a small group of Stellenbosch students, the Akker club is made up of two teams, about a third of which comprise black and coloured players.

Accepted

Most of their games are played in the townships and the club took part in a successful tour throughout the country in July.

John Donaldson, club chairman and final year BA student at Stellenbosch, said his club planned to publish 5000 brochures for distribution around the world".

"We would even like to send one to Ronald Reagan and Nelson Mandela!"

He said the club was formed "as a tool to improve race relations".

"Rugby is close to any Afrikaner's heart and our critics must see there are people outside government fostering non-racialism."

Club captain Francois Botha said they had experienced little or no aggression from township blacks.

"We were generally well accepted and the feeling was that, at last, someone from the other side of the fence had come over." '`

He also said the black members of the club were "on a par" with their white team mates.