Rugby World Cup:Scenes of euphoria are set to greet the Springboks when they fly into Johannesburg tomorrow as South Africa unites in celebrating its Rugby World Cup victory.
Ticker-tape parades have been scheduled for cities across the country later this week, starting with the capital Pretoria, along with Johannesburg, and then Bloemfontein, Durban and Cape Town.
Already, the victory has created a rare bonding experience for South Africa, with fans from across the racial divide partying into the early hours of yesterday morning.
"Black, white - we are all the same," cried one teary-eyed supporter, with his arms around some new-found friends in Pretoria's Hatfield square.
They were joined by thousands of other twentysomething fans who watched the action from Paris on giant TV screens and in bars dotted around the plaza.
The match received saturation coverage in yesterday's newspapers with The Sunday Independent leading with the headline "C'est magnifique, Bokke!", and The Sunday Times splashing "Glory Boys!" across its front page.
Fullback Percy Montgomery - once ridiculed, and even booed at a Test match, by South African fans - was singled out for praise by the critics.
While most people were relishing the result, some already had an eye to the future, asking whether the team would be able to regroup for further glory.
In an article headlined "Enjoy it while you can, we won't win again for 25 years," Sunday Times rugby correspondent Clinton van der Berg said the impact of the planned departure of a number of key players for European clubs would be exacerbated by "political interference" aimed at creating a more racially-diverse team.
Those actively campaigning against such interference were quick to seize upon the result, with Kallie Kriel, head of the Afrikaner-led lobby group AfriForum calling for "transformation" reforms to be scrapped.
He said: "The Boks' newly-found status as world champions has not been achieved as a result of the interference of politicians in sport, but rather in spite thereof."
Concern over the possibility of the team being dismantled was expressed by some revellers in Pretoria too, among them Phindile Mazwayi from South Africa's black rugby heartland of Eastern Cape.
"I feel there must be more blacks in the team but I don't want us to compromise on quality," he said.
"There are a lot of good black players, and Saru (South African Rugby Union) must go into the townships and find more. But it will not happen overnight.
"We must not push it and say 'You must have seven black players in the first 15' without checking their merits.
"We don't want to lose what we have gained. We want to maintain our reputation as the best team in the world."
Others expressed the hope that the success would rub off on South Africa's underperforming national football team ahead of the country's hosting of the 2010 World Cup.
After the match, many revellers in Pretoria took to the streets, waving flags and blowing "vuvuzela" horns from car windows. Songs rang out in English, Afrikaans and other local tongues, with "Shosholoza" - a traditional Zulu working chant - serving as a common anthem.
Thousands of other supporters gathered to watch the match at the Monte-Casino theme park in Johannesburg where former president Nelson Mandela made a brief appearance at a balcony wearing a Bok jersey.
President Thabo Mbeki, whose embracing of skipper John Smit on the trophy podium on Saturday night drew some of biggest cheers from spectators, paid tribute yesterday to the team, saying they had done the country proud.
