Understanding attitudes towards national pride in sport in South Africa: implications for nation-building

Since the inception of South Africa’s post-apartheid democracy, the country’s relationship with sport as a tool of nation-building has been firmly established. Through various global and continental sporting achievements and events, such as notably the Rugby World Cup (1995, 2007, 2019, 2023), the African Cup of Nations in 1996 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, sport has helped to bring South Africa’s “imagined community” to life. Yet the country’s relationship with sport is not uncomplicated and the article speaks to the way in which sport has been mobilised as a political tool to help create a national identity and further post-apartheid nation-building objectives. Using the HSRC’s South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) data from 2003, 2013 and 2023, this article examines changing national pride in sport in South Africa and investigates the relationship between national pride and political factors, such as citizens’ satisfaction with democracy, satisfaction with government performance and their trust in government. Supported by literature examining the nexus between sport and nationalism, the article offers insights into the complex process of nation-building in contemporary South Africa. Of particular interest is the finding that pride in sport may remain one of the most resilient markers of collective identity, even as pride in governance and institutional performance fluctuates and even declines.