Consequences and Significance to New Zealand
The 1981 Springbok Tour left New Zealand more divided than it had ever historically been. Over the eight-week tour, which was strewn with protests and violence, one 2,000 New Zealanders had been arrested. After David Lange's Labour government won the election in 1984, there wouldn't be anymore tours. Following this, the South Africans shut down their embassy in Wellington, showing a spilt in New Zealand and South Africa's relationship as a consequence of the tour.
Apartheid collapsed in South Africa in 1990, and Nelson Mandela mentioned that New Zealand and the Springbok Tour had a place in this. There were also consequences on Maori activists, who questioned why people were so willing to protest against the Springbok Tour when the apartheid was occurring so far away from our own country. Many did not make the connection that to some extent, Maori were still being treated unfairly in New Zealand.
New Zealand held its first world cup in 1987, and excluded South Africa from being able to participate. In 1995, a Apartheid free South Africa then held the world cup itself, and won.
The 1981 Springbok Tour left New Zealand more divided than it had ever historically been. Over the eight-week tour, which was strewn with protests and violence, one 2,000 New Zealanders had been arrested. After David Lange's Labour government won the election in 1984, there wouldn't be anymore tours. Following this, the South Africans shut down their embassy in Wellington, showing a spilt in New Zealand and South Africa's relationship as a consequence of the tour.
Apartheid collapsed in South Africa in 1990, and Nelson Mandela mentioned that New Zealand and the Springbok Tour had a place in this. There were also consequences on Maori activists, who questioned why people were so willing to protest against the Springbok Tour when the apartheid was occurring so far away from our own country. Many did not make the connection that to some extent, Maori were still being treated unfairly in New Zealand.
New Zealand held its first world cup in 1987, and excluded South Africa from being able to participate. In 1995, a Apartheid free South Africa then held the world cup itself, and won.