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Soweto to welcome World Cup-winning Springboks, a team they once hated

The iconic picture of Nelson Mandela (L) congratulating captain Francois Pienaar after the Springboks won the 1995 Rugby World Cup [Courtesy]

A national tour by Rugby World Cup winners the Springboks begins on Thursday and one of the first stops will be Soweto, a township near Johannesburg where they were once hated.

Three decades ago, as black nationalists fought apartheid regime brutality, South Africa's national rugby team was viewed as a symbol of Afrikaner aggression.

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