The 1981 Springbok Tour protests had a range of significant causes. In Afrikaans the apartheid literally means “apart”. The Nation party of South Africa put into place the unjust system of apartheid that meant racial segregation between the blacks and whites. The whites gravely mistreated the black and coloured community and stripped them of their human rights. The severity of the situation was revealed to the world, including New Zealand when in 1972 in Soweto, 20,000 black teachers and students held a protest march through the township because they were being forced by the white government to learn Afrikaans instead of their own native language. The police immediately confronted the march shooting and killing over 300 black youths. News of this spread throughout the world putting pressure on South Africa to change its apartheid system. In 1968 the United Nations called for nations to boycott any sporting contact with South Africa with the belief that this will force South Africa to change its racist laws. Despite this New Zealand, under the Muldoon government, accepted South Africa’s offer to tour in 1976. this undermined what the United Nations was trying to achieve and tarnished New Zealands international reputation. As a result of New Zealands continued sporting contract with South Africa, 25 African countries boycotted the Montreal Summer Olympics. This brought more shame to New Zealand and opened up the eyes of many. This brought about the desire of many Kiwis to restore New Zealands international reputation and to show our opinion on the system of apartheid by protesting against the 1981 Springbok tour.