Africa’s Beloved Son

Siya Kolisi and The Realisation of a Long-Cherished Dream

By Koketso Mamabolo

“I am the product of Africa and her long-cherished dream of rebirth that can now be realised so that all of her children may play in the sun,” said former President Nelson Mandela at the last sitting of South Africa’s first democratically elected parliament, two decades before Siya Kolisi would become the third Springbok captain to lift the William Webb Ellis Cup. It was to these words that the creators of “Chasing the Sun” turned when naming the documentary that would capture the national rugby team’s rise to the top, deepening the link between nation-building and sport, and immortalising arguably the most successful and inspirational player to lead the Springboks.

Last year the Springboks repeated a feat that has catapulted them to cult status and cemented South Africa’s position as one of the world’s leading rugby nations. At this year’s African Union Sports Council Region 5 Sports Awards, which were hosted in Lusaka, Siya was honoured with the Sportsman of the Year Award, adding to the People’s Choice and Sports Star of the Year awards he received at the 17th edition of the SA Sports Awards.

“Each historical period defines the specific challenges of national progress and leadership; and no man is an island,” said President Nelson Mandela and the accolades the Springboks received are testament to this, with the team taking home the Team of the Year Award at both the national and regional award ceremonies."

“The team and Kolisi have been critical in showing what unity, teamwork, and overcoming numerous barriers on and off the field can achieve in nation-building and building winning teams, and we hope this inspires teams across Africa to follow in their footsteps and achieve similar success,” said SA Rugby President Mark Alexander.

When South Africa hosted the third Rugby World Cup in 1995, the last of the amateur era, President Nelson Mandela identified an opportunity to use the moment as a tool for harnessing the power of unity and crafting a new narrative for democratic South Africa. At the time the green and gold jersey was seen as a symbol of a divisive, unequal past and the President’s decision to don the team’s colours, with openside flanker and captain Francois Pienaar’s number printed on the back, was a masterstroke.

A quarter of a century later, Siya, also an openside flanker wearing the number six, led his diverse cohort to the summit and tapped into the same nation-building narrative and again four years later when the national team became the first in rugby history to win four World Cups.

“Look at what this sport did in 1995, we can’t go away from that,” said Siya after the team had defeated New Zealand’s national team, the All Blacks, who were also led by an openside flanker, Sam Cane. “Without that, I wouldn’t be here. There were people before me who fought for the opportunity for people who look like me to be able to play in this team. They never got to experience that.I’ve got a job to make sure that I give everything I can to inspire the next generation.”

And what an inspiration Siya has been. Humble, kind, hardworking, and the sort of player to put everything on the line for the team, Siya has gone from one of the country’s most popular rugby players to a global icon since his debut against Scotland just over a decade ago. Entrusted with one of the most public-facing roles in South African sport, Siya’s leadership skills have flourished with the help of an innovative coaching staff and a crop of senior players who will one day take their place amongst the legends of the 1995 and 2007 World Cup victories.

Thirty years into democracy, Siya has become a symbol of the “long-cherished dream” President Mandela spoke of and the late statesman would be proud that a person of Siya’s calibre is inspiring children to not only play in the sun but break barriers while doing it.

Source: SA Rugby | Planet Rugby | Nelson Mandela Foundation | Department of Sport, Arts and Culture