In South Africa, the ‘Big Three’ – rugby, cricket and soccer – face plummeting revenues in the wake of no live sport, while minor codes are under even greater threat as crucial sponsorship money dries up.



South African sport faces a crisis the likes of which has never been seen before and one that has the potential to change the game forever as the Covid-19 pandemic threatens the brittle fabric that has kept professionalism alive in the country.



Rugby, cricket and soccer all face plummeting revenues in the wake of no live sport, while minor codes are under even greater threat as crucial sponsorship money dries up.



The ‘Big Three’ all rely heavily on broadcast revenue, and for rugby and soccer, the inability to stage live sport in the first few months of the lockdown has put that relationship under threat. As has the worsening economic crisis in the country, which could see millions more people out of jobs and cancelling their subscriptions to pay channel SuperSport in what will be the longer-term effect of the pandemic.



Tough economic times do not bode well for sports, with the corporate paymasters loathe to be seen to be pumping money into sponsorship while at the same time laying off workers.



The immediate threat to all sports is to keep paying the players and staff, and across the board, there have been salary cuts that suggest the days of largesse are over, for now, and possibly, the foreseeable future.



South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) faces the potential for collapse as we know it, with clubs already cutting player salaries, laying off non-playing staff and facing a burst to the bubble of what is seen by many as the richest and best-equipped league in Africa.



Absa announced a premature end to their lucrative deal as headline sponsors of the league, worth some R140 million ($8.3 million) per season, while stalwart clubs such as Bidvest Wits, with a rich 99-year history, have been sold as owners reconsider their appetitive for the sport.



“Football all over the world is a business like any other,” Cape Town City owner John Comitis tells FORBES AFRICA. “It has to be treated as such and that means in tough economic times, you have to look at ways of cutting costs.



“But as a club, we will do everything possible to limit the damage. A lot of that will be dependent on how quickly we can re-start the season, because we need to fulfil our contractual obligations to our sponsors and the broadcaster.



“That is the major source of income and without that, it is inevitable that the effect will trickle down to staff and the players.



“But even if you cut player salaries, the cost of running a club remains high. It is a very difficult situation and some [clubs] will handle it better than others.”



Fellow top-flight side AmaZulu confirmed they could not pay full salaries as early as the end of April, though they were guarded on the size of the cuts, saying in a letter to players and staff, “even though the club receives the [R2 million] PSL grant and has Spar as a sponsor, it still relies on other income streams and significant contribution from the owners of the club whose businesses have been severely affected by Covid-19”.



In rugby, some of the country’s top players will lose up to 43% of their monthly earnings up to the end of 2020 after South African Rugby announced plans to cut its budget by R1.2 billion ($71.5 million) for the year.



This would be achieved through a mixture of interventions, including cancelling junior competitions, and limiting other operations such as training camps, coaching courses and non-essential work.



But players will also feel the brunt, with a sliding scale used to determine how much they will lose on their monthly wage, which according to reports, is on average around R50,000 ($2,980) per month across the board, though higher earners can collect five times that amount.



The cuts, which amount to 25% of total remuneration across the industry, are not just for players, but coaching staff, administrators and office workers as well. Those earning less than R20,000 ($1,192) per month will not be affected.



“It was a complex process to find alignment with a number of entities representing 1,396 people in the South African rugby industry,” SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux says.



“The group identified our collective areas of financial risk and what savings had to be made and then identified a plan to mitigate those risks.



“It has meant salary cuts for many, but we have put together a plan that will ensure the industry will be positioned and resourced to get straight back to action just as soon as we are permitted.”



Cricket has largely been shielded from the financial fallout due to the fact that the season was coming to an end just as lockdown was implemented.



It means the industry would have been dormant for a few months in any case, and the national team players mostly idle, though a limited overs tour to Sri Lanka in June was called off.



South Africa’s home summer really kicks into gear in December, by which time authorities are hopeful they will at least be able to stage matches and fulfil their contractual obligations, though a poorly-performing economy may have longer-lasting effects.



“We have budgeted for the amount [of salaries for the season],” Cricket South Africa Acting CEO Jacques Faul says. “It’s a centralized system and both the national team and [domestic] franchise players are budgeted for. At this stage, we will have enough capacity to see us through the [2020/21] season.



“But in the long term, even if we cover this season, we will have to look at what the situation is going to be after that and the financial impact it has. In our situation, I cannot see any player getting less money this season, but going forward, I can see a situation where players might have to receive less.”



The great uncertainty for everyone is the difficulty in predicting how the Covid-19 pandemic will play out in South Africa.



But what is clear is if salaries and jobs are to be saved, the games need to start sooner rather than later, or the money will simply dry up, and in a worst-case scenario, the likes of rugby and cricket could return to the amateur era.&nbsp;



– By Nick Said

Sowet soccer

How Covid-19 Is Playing Out In Sport In South Africa

After their epic win beating England at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan on November 2, the Springboks returned home to South Africa, undertaking a nation-wide tour, in an open-top bus, holding high the Webb Ellis Cup. In this image, in the township of Soweto, they pass the iconic Vilakazi Street with throngs of screaming, cheering residents and Springbok fans lining the street. The sport united the racially-divided country. For the third time in history, the South African national rugby team was crowned world champions.



Image by Motlabana Monnakgotla

Boks 298

The Springboks And The Cup Of Good Hope

Former South African rugby star John Mametsa provides
alternative energy solutions for the state. With his wife Tumi, he says their
future in the business is bright.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



In his prime, former Blue Bulls winger John Mametsa had
rugby fans screaming in delight at his try-scoring exploits at Loftus Versfeld
Stadium. Between 2001 to when he retired in 2010, he had brought smiles on
people’s faces.



Hidden beneath the rugby bravura on display on a weekly
basis were Mametsa’s entrepreneurial exploits, which led him to co-found
Soltech, a solar technology company he started with his wife Tumi.



Soltech has bridged the gap between solar technology and user-friendly consumer products by creating school backpacks, outdoor umbrellas and lifestyle bags custom-fitted with solar power.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Bryan Habana Swaps Sweatpants For Suits (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/driving-ambition/2019/03/25/bryan-habana-swaps-sweatpants-for-suits/" target="_blank">Bryan Habana Swaps Sweatpants For Suits</a>



The smiles are back but Mametsa has brought them in a
different form. 



Soltech’s main aim is to help companies achieve their
corporate social investment targets and make a real difference in the lives of
school children who might not have electricity at home, or whose access to
electricity is limited.



“Generally, I love giving back. Just to see the kids smile
brings joy to me,” Mametsa says.



“It is the best space I could have asked for. Other than when I was involved in rugby, this is the best thing I could have ever been a part of. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="535" height="607" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/John3.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40695" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/John3.png.png 535w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/John3.png-300x340.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/John3.png-264x300.png 264w" sizes="(max-width: 535px) 100vw, 535px" /><figcaption>John Mamemtsa. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



Putting smiles on kids’ faces is the best thing. Because we are dealing with children, we have aligned ourselves with people that want to make a difference.



“We don’t stop at just giving them the bags where they can
charge phones and study at night but we also educate them about the social ills
that come with roaming on the internet and social media.”



During this period of Eskom blackouts, uncertainty about
South Africa’s energy and a widening chasm between the haves and have-nots, he
says Soltech’s products make a difference in the lives of ordinary citizens. 



In a sense, they’ve taken the might of solar technology and
put it right in people’s hands. The school bags come with a solar-powered
battery, which has a night lamp and cellular phone battery charger installed.



“With everything that’s going on at Eskom now, they (citizens) are using millions of liters of diesel per month, just to keep the lights on,” Mametsa says. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="The Top 7 Investment Trends That Have Been Identified In 2019 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/investment/2019/03/12/the-top-7-investment-trends-that-have-been-identified-in-2019/" target="_blank">The Top 7 Investment Trends That Have Been Identified In 2019</a>



“Hence, it’s coming back to hit our pockets and they (Eskom
– South Africa’s national energy provider) are raising the electricity prices
again. Such things we have to read about so that, as we grow, we educate the
people that we are selling the bags to.



“At some point, you need to convert [to reusable energy
sources], you need to start using solar energy. We are still fortunate that
there’s an Eskom in the first place. What about those countries that don’t even
have electricity at all?



“Yes, we have power cuts but the people that really need the
bags are people in the rural areas.”



Admittedly, Mametsa was the pretty face and Tumi
conceptualized the idea when they started. But their partnership was perfect in
more ways than one. Tumi, just like her husband, had a massive entrepreneurial
drive. 



While Mametsa was playing rugby, he would dabble in taxi and printing businesses – an uncommon trait among sportsmen and sportswomen who are at the peak of their powers. Tumi was no different. As a student, she would sell hair and cosmetics products, something that sharpened her business senses.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="John Smit leaves everything on the field (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2019/05/01/john-smit-leaves-everything-on-the-field/" target="_blank">John Smit leaves everything on the field</a>



And despite a successful 11-year career in corporate as an
accountant and financial manager for companies such as Alexander Forbes and the
Film and Publication Board, Tumi took a bet on herself and dedicated her time
fully to building Soltech.



The result was that, in just the company’s second year, they
have signed a memorandum of understanding with Finland solar technology company
Tespack. Tespack founders Caritta Seppä and Yesika Robles were last year named
in Forbes ’s 30 Under 30 Europe. 



The joint venture will see Soltech come out, among other
things, with a solar-powered, fast-charging power bank, which should totally
disrupt the smartphone accessories market. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="592" height="555" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/John2.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40696" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/John2.png.png 592w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/John2.png-300x281.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px" /><figcaption>Tumi Mametsa. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



“There’s going to be skills and knowledge transfer,” Tumi
says.



“The DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) is also backing
us on the partnership because we need them and their funding to assist us. We
will be hiring South Africans to work the machinery, which was something that was
very attractive to the DTI.



“The Tespack partnership confirmed my belief that our
company could grow from a small tree to a forest someday. Once we manufacture
in-house we can streamline the process. And there are so many other ideas for
products I have, such as ladies’ handbags and stuff.”



Here at home, Soltech has partnered in CSI projects with Liberty and Exxaro and they hope to grow their client base in the next couple of years. It is a huge endorsement of their products and should see them salve some of the hurt from the country’s electricity crisis, especially to those who need it the most.



-Sibusiso Mjikeliso

john1

Packing Light In School Bags

A game does not end when the final whistle blows. Its impact
reverberates throughout a community when the stadiums are empty. Former rugby
captain John Smit, in his role as CEO of a security company, has ensured that
the tournaments are alive and kicking.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



As captain of the World Cup-winning Springboks in 2007, John
Smit was, “Mr Right Place, Right Time”. He was the centerpiece that connected
management to the players and the players to the fans. 



His talents have evolved into the commercial sphere, where
he now sits and curates a partnership that could save rugby and have a much
more meaningful impact on the communities whose lives revolve around club
rugby.



Security and maintenance company SSG Group – for which Smit
is acting CEO – were, in March, named co-sponsors for the Gold Cup, a rugby
tournament steeped in the blood and sweat of community involvement. 



“A lot of our clientele are the mines in the North West and Limpopo area,” Smit says.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/driving-ambition/2019/03/25/bryan-habana-swaps-sweatpants-for-suits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Bryan Habana Swaps Sweatpants For Suits (opens in a new tab)">Bryan Habana Swaps Sweatpants For Suits</a>



“Those communities are massively passionate about the game
and we wanted to show that this company not only wanted to leave a footprint
within the community using SMEs but also, we wanted to help keep a tournament
alive that is quite important to a lot of them. 



“It was really just to show our gratitude for the community
that we were allowed to work within. I met the Rustenburg Impala Rugby Club
guys a few weeks ago and rugby is really important around that mining area. 



“It’s a massive part of their culture and their working
environment. When this thing happened, Jorge Ferreira (SSG Group CEO) called me
to get my thoughts on what this sponsorship would entail. I said to him it’s an
unbelievable partnership because everyone wants to go straight to the top but
this is where the real rugby starts and ends.”



Fans pack the creaky stands, making a ruckus and cheering
uninhibitedly for their sons, fathers and uncles as they put their bodies
through the dirt for the sheer pleasure of it. 



In most communities where club rugby is played, it’s the only
recreational outlet with the gravitas that pulls 12,000 people to a game, like
last year’s Pirates Grand Challenge Final between Villagers Worcester and Roses
United in Worcester last year.



Put into perspective, 14,000 people watched the Stormers
play the Lions at Newlands in February. Goliath-eque franchise budgets were
brought to size by passionate, ordinary folk. 



“There was a guy that came to one of the games on horseback. There were so many people at the game that he could not see, so he watched the game on his horse to get a view,” Smit says.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">You can only get that at Gold Cup games. It’s something magically unique. These people play for free, they play for the community and they play for each other. </blockquote>



“The games are well-supported because the communities have a
vested interest in the game – their husbands, uncles, brothers, friends,
cousins, employees or employers are participating in them. Everyone comes.”



The Gold Cup portfolio landed on Smit’s desk by chance. One
might say there was some alchemy involved. Ferriera’s untimely death, last
year, meant Smit was redeployed from shareholding company Richmark Holdings to
hold the SSG fort.



When he got to Ferreira’s seat, he saw the founder’s plans
for the partnership with SA Rugby were complete. The baby was in the right
hands. Smit wasted precious little time and stamped the deal. 



In a time of austerity, load-shedding and budget cuts, Smit
saw the forest for the trees. 



“I can’t take credit for that because it was the brainchild
of our previous CEO,” he says. 



“I am delighted that I am a part of this and that things
have worked out in such a way that made it possible. This was pioneered by
Jorge Ferreira and supported by two other companies (Blu Approved and M4Jam)
who made it possible. 



“The unique positioning, the timing of my transition into SSG, I don’t think there would have been anyone else who understood what the Gold Cup means to this country and the communities that hold it dear. 



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2019/03/05/super-rugby-in-sin-bin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Super Rugby In Sin Bin (opens in a new tab)">Super Rugby In Sin Bin</a>



“It’s hard to quantify that commercially because it is more
of an emotive vibe. These communities have passionate people who stick with the
game after school. They are the backbone because they are not playing for
money.”



Indeed, if it isn’t a man atop his steed looking for a
glimpse of the action, it’s a “tannie” (older woman) selling boerewors rolls on
the grass bank. It’s kids running freely along the touchline, collecting balls
that have been kicked too long and returning them to their hometown heroes. 



It’s a second and third chance at the game for players who’ve been hooved by professional rugby’s cut-throat contracting system – such as MB Lusaseni, College Rovers captain and former Lions lock. It’s a combination of all these factors that make a mineworker spend his or her free time in the hot sun, absorbing the Gold Cup.



-Sibusiso Mjikeliso

gettyimages-120765610-594×594

John Smit leaves everything on the field

After 15 years at play Bryan Habana, the man who was once compared to a panther, discusses the end of his run on the field as he gives business a shot



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Sitting at the SLOW Lounge in Sandton, Africa’s richest square mile, sleeves rolled halfway up his arm, Springbok and World Cup-winner Bryan Habana looks a lot less like the menacing right winger with an insatiable appetite for tries and more like the entrepreneur he has now become. 



The change was sudden. One day, he was recovering from
injury and plotting a new season with his French club Toulon, the next he was
walking into the Toulouse Business School getting his first badge in Business
Studies. 



“The decision to call an end to your sporting days is
probably the most feared in a professional athlete’s life,” Habana says. 



“You don’t really know what you’re going to be jumping into,
even though they talk about preparing yourself for life after professional
sport. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">The transition is the most talked-about topic in sport because it’s so huge. When you’ve been doing something you love for five, 10, 15 years, you almost need to rediscover yourself once it’s done. <cite> Bryan Habana </cite></blockquote>



“But I’ve kept myself busy – even though I thought I would
give myself time to reflect on the past 15 years, which hasn’t happened yet.”



In the post-training, post-gym routine that retired players
find themselves, former professionals can often get stuck trying to find their
next move. It’s an often depressing realization and a lonely time, filled with
much angst and doubt.



Not for Habana. With much of the same finesse he weaved past seemingly closed spaces on the rugby field, he called marketing guru Mike Sharman after calling it a day and the pair, alongside Ben Karpinski, came up with sports marketing agency Retroactive. 



“I had a chat with Mike Sharman – whom I’ve known since high
school at King Edward VII School – when I announced my retirement last year and
came up with the idea of creating something fresh and authentic within the
digital sports marketing environment,” Habana says. 



“Through Retroviral, Mike had been in the agency space for
more than 10 years. He is not about being the biggest but just being the best
at what you can do. Ben’s been in a similar space from a sporting fan point of
view and he knows sport – not just one type but the heartbeat of it. Shaka
Sisulu [Retroviral chairman] comes with a wealth of enterprise experience,
which we all needed. 



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2019/03/05/super-rugby-in-sin-bin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Super Rugby In Sin Bin (opens in a new tab)">Super Rugby In Sin Bin</a>



Swapping togs, kitbags and sweatpants for bespoke suits,
ties and matching pocket squares was always going to make for an awkward
transition for one of the most celebrated Springboks of all time.



In rugby numbers, Habana has clocked 124 test caps and a
record 67 tries for South Africa, not to mention the World Cup, Tri-Nations,
Super Rugby, European Championship and Currie Cup medals that dangle from his
neck. 



In his post-rugby career, his numbers were dialled back to
zero – his factory settings restored. 



However, his relationships garnered through rugby have come
in as invaluable human relations capital.



Seeing him give a talk at the Mining Indaba in February,
you’d think he’s been an entrepreneur for years. Doors that he didn’t know
existed have opened and his shoes are tap dancing into rooms that rugby boots
cannot take you. 



Already, the company can count Jawitz Properties, Cricket SA
and Biogen among the clients they create storyfied, authentic digital marketing
content for.



Habana says: “I am fortunate as well that, throughout my
rugby career, I was able to create a brand for myself and work with some of the
biggest brands in the world… Through these partnerships, I’ve been able to see
how the other side works. 



“Given my wide network, it made sense that I come into a
role where I could engage with potential clients. Hopefully, I won’t get seen
as Bryan Habana: P.A. to Mike Sharman. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">Yes, it’s difficult and you definitely don’t earn your playing salary but I am fortunate to have opportunities leading up to the World Cup. The synergy is very good and there is definitely something special brewing.<cite> Bryan Habana </cite></blockquote>



Habana joins a growing list of ex-professionals who have
veered away from the predictable coaching route – something he describes as
more difficult than being a player. 



Patrick Lambie, who retired recently, also ruled out the
possibility of getting into coaching and is likely to join his father, Ian, and
former teammate Guy Cronjé’s business partnership. 



Other teammates such as Bakkies Botha (game farming) and
John Smit (former Sharks CEO) have provided Habana with a good sounding board
in this dark new world he has entered.



“There’s not a support group or a WhatsApp group where we
all log on and discuss these things but I definitely chat to John, Jean [de
Villiers] and Bakkies, who have entered this space. 



“And of course, my wife [Janine Viljoen], who ran her own
business in Cape Town, provides good support.”



Perhaps, the grass actually is greener on the other side.



&#8211; Sibusiso Mjikeliso

Habana

Bryan Habana Swaps Sweatpants For Suits

Changes in the formation of the competition have had some
unforeseen knock-on effects.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Super Rugby returned for the 2019 season last month but questions remain as to whether the southern hemisphere club championship is a competition on the rise or one that is slowly dying in popularity and relevance.



The competition was cut from 18 to 15 teams, in 2018, in a
bid to make it more competitive, but that failed to create an improved product
and the same issues of too many one-sided contests remained.



The field contains five sides from New Zealand, four each
from South Africa and Australia, and one each from Argentina and Japan, who
have been given a slot to try and grow the popularity of Super Rugby in Asia.



It is a complex competition that straddles 16 time zones
with matches on four continents, leaving players exhausted and, especially
later in the season, under-performing as a result.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2018/10/25/no-play-like-e-play-for-former-rugby-player/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="No Play Like E-Play For Former Springbok Rugby Player (opens in a new tab)">No Play Like E-Play For Former Springbok Rugby Player</a>



Teams send under-strength squads to play some away matches,
wary of the impact the travel will have on their players, and that means the
paying public, or viewers on television, often get sub-standard entertainment
and fixture outcomes that are too easy to predict. 



Experts can debate the standard of the rugby on the pitch,
and many agree it is declining outside of New Zealand, at least, and the
reality is that people in South Africa and Australia, especially, are getting
turned off.



Between 2015 and 2017 South African teams saw their gates
diminish by 25% and in Australia, they went down 20% over the same period. 



In 2017, Super Rugby matches saw, on average, stadiums
filled to only 38.2% of capacity, meaning more than 60% of seats were vacant.
Part of this is to do with bigger venues now being used, but it creates poor
optics for viewers and potential sponsors when all you see are empty seats.



With a broadcast deal that is up for renewal in 2020, Super
Rugby organizers need to come up with a plan to make it more entertaining and,
if not quite get bums back on seats, get viewers more switched on to the
product.



There had been widespread media reports that the competition
could shed another unnamed side, possibly the under-performing Sunwolves of
Japan, and drop to 14 teams. Governing body SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand,
Australia and Argentina Rugby) say that while no decision has been made yet,
they want clarity soon.



“We don’t have the luxury of time on our side and if there
are going to be any changes to the competition structure we need to know what
that is going to look like because we’ve got to start some face-to-face
engagement with our broadcasters during the course of 2019,” SANZAAR Chief
Executive Andy Marinos told The New Zealand Herald.



“We’ve done feasibility studies around putting teams in
North America and the Pacific Islands and we’ve seen the metrics aren’t really
stacking up for us at this point in time but that doesn’t mean we won’t look at
taking our product into those markets in the form of regular season games or
preseason friendlies.”



Marinos went on to suggest that the single-stream, round-robin format was the best way forward, in his opinion.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“When we get to the business end of the season, you want to know everybody has played everyone and they’ve all had a similar path to get to the finals so that the finals series has integrity,” he said.</blockquote>



“Those have been big pieces for us to look at; how do we
increase the competitiveness and how do we get the integrity back. Certainly a
round robin format would deliver that.”



It is expected that a decision on the future of the
competition will be made at a SANZAAR board meeting in March.



South African Rugby Chief Executive Officer Jurie Roux has
previously weighed into the debate, saying he believes the optimum number of
teams for Super Rugby was 12, which the competition had from 1995 to 2005,
before expanding in what is now viewed as an ill-fated move. “In the end, the
ultimate competition was probably the Super 12,” Roux said at a press
conference. “To be honest, we probably should’ve never moved away from it but
there were different reasons for that.



“Over the last decade or so, every union had different
reasons for supporting the expansion. Some of it was purely selfishness, others
had a clear mandate from the union on high performance.



“Some of it was politics and others purely about making
revenue. Whatever the reason, it ended up being a tournament that if we don’t
change it, we’ll have serious issues.”



The expansion brought with it a decision to put teams into
conferences, which has proven complex and not popular with audiences.



There are also the sporting considerations, as New Zealand
teams the Wellington Hurricanes and Waikato Chiefs ended with more points than
the Lions (South Africa) and New South Wales Waratahs (Australia) on the
overall log in 2018, but finished below them as a team from each country is
guaranteed a place in the top three on the table to ensure they get a home
quarterfinal.



In 2017, the ACT Brumbies from Australia were allocated a
home quarterfinal despite all five New Zealand sides having obtained more
points than them in the pool stages. It created a giant mess that was viewed as
unsporting and damaging to the integrity of the competition.



It appears clear that the best way to save Super Rugby is to
cull more teams and go back to a single stream, returning the competition to
how it operated at its peak. 



With more competitive games, hopefully viewers are switched on, again.

Super Rugby: Emirates Lions v Vodacom Bulls

Super Rugby In Sin Bin

The gender pay gap remains enormous in sport. Despite women’s achievements in rugby, football and cricket, resources continue to be channeled to men’s sport in South Africa.

In May this year, Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Thabang Moroe made a bold pronouncement – he wanted to see men and women paid equally in the sport.
Bold because contentious contractual agreements for national contracts – for men – had not been signed yet, following a lengthy standoff between the South African Cricketers’ Association and the suits at CSA.
Bold because cricket – and sport in general – was a long, long way away from gender parity.
The silence from the other sports federations was audible. You would think such a statement would spark the ‘Four-Minute Mile’ effect and cause the other sports administrators to take up the fight for equal gender pay. Not a word.
The last known figures (2015) showed Proteas women earned about eight times less than the men. If the men win a Test, it’s R10,000 ($690) to R80,000 ($5,520).
Those figures might have improved for the women following financial wellness company Momentum’s injection into the sport, especially after their stellar showing at the Women’s World Cup in England last year, where they made the semifinals. However, the gap remains enormous.
The general consensus is that the AB de Villiers big hits and Kagiso Rabada’s bombardier bowling bring in the audience and therefore they deserve a bigger slice of the pie.
But how can they not be viewed in higher marketing esteem when all the resources are channeled to boys’ sports from inception? When there are school rugby derbies, the sister schools are in the stands watching the boys play but where are the boys when the girls play?
The game is rigged from the start. Women are playing a board game of snakes with no ladders, whereas the men are in a game of ladders with no snakes.
At the last women’s World Cup in 2014, the Springboks women’s squad members were paid somewhere between R5,000 ($345) and R7,000 ($483) per match, according to a source within SA Rugby.
Pitiful as those wages were, they were the last seen by the XV-player version of the women’s game. For four years, the rugby mother body scheduled no Tests for the women’s national team, choosing instead to focus on the Sevens derivative, whose players received R12,000 ($828) to R20,000 ($1,380) in match fees.
This year, the women’s national XV-a-side team returns to the field, most likely to cobwebs where a fair wage should be.
Au contraire, the men are laughing all the way to the bank. The current HSBC Sevens World Series champions, the Blitzboks, can each expect nothing less than R800,000 ($55,288) per year for contracted players, while Springbok match fees range from R90,000 ($6,220) to R120,000 ($8,230) per game and double that for a victorious match.
Consider the dual contracts rugby players can sign with South African as well as Japanese franchises – which can climb to about R13 million ($900,000) in East Asia alone. Such figures would make any of the female players’ eyes water.
An SA Rugby spokesperson says: “South African rugby is excited and committed to the challenge of growing women’s rugby in this country.
Our major challenge is the relatively small number of female players from which we can choose but we have addressed that by creating under-16 and under-18 competitions as well as establishing youth training centers around the country where female players can train and be upskilled.
<blockquote>“Only once we have reached a critical mass of female players will be able to think of professionalizing the women’s provincial game.”</blockquote>
What South African female footballers receive is a borderline insult.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2015/04/01/women-should-not-be-boxing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Women Should Not Be Boxing?</a>
A Banyana Banyana player, who has also played for the national team at Under-17 and Under-20 level, says, on condition of anonymity: “I didn’t receive any allowance for playing Under-17 and Under-20.
“With Banyana, I think it’s roughly R4,000 ($276) for being in camp for a week and if you win, you get a bonus of about R2,000 ($138).”
The women’s football team has qualified for the last two Olympic Games, in Britain and Brazil, while the men’s team has all but underperformed on the international stage. This has not prevented brand and sponsorship managers to jump towards the Premier Soccer League, making it the richest league on the African continent.
Women’s football in South Africa survives on the lone sponsorship from Sasol, who provide for an amateur league and the women’s national team needs. The paucity of resources also means that the sport fails to attract talented women, who would much rather earn a living in an office job.
A recent news report showed that Bafana Bafana players could get R40,000 ($2,767) to R60,000 ($4,150) per match, despite a chronic inability to qualify for major tournaments consistently. Banyana Banyana, by virtue of a 6-0 victory over Lesotho in June, qualified for the CAF Women Nations Cup to be held in Ghana later this year.
Recently appointed South African Football Association (SAFA) Vice-President, Ria Ledwaba, the first woman to hold the post, says a fresh approach to luring sponsors into the women’s game is needed. As it stands, Sasol is the biggest sponsor of women’s football, and they keep the lights on not just for the national team but the domestic Sasol League as well.
“We need other Sasols to come on board,” says Ledwaba.
<div id="attachment_37330" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37330" class="size-medium wp-image-37330" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Gree_Midrand_027-copy-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Gree_Midrand_027-copy-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Gree_Midrand_027-copy-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Gree_Midrand_027-copy.jpg 461w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />SAFA Vice-President, Ria Ledwaba.</div>
“We want our girls to be encouraged to play soccer. They [probably] look at what Banyana are earning now and say, ‘What’s the point? It’s not going to take me another level’. But when you look at Bafana, you know what you get when you get called up and that’s because of a sponsor.
“Sometimes you must go to the market and get competent companies that are able to package sponsors in, and sell what Banyana have achieved. We need to draw in companies that sell products that are used by women and such. And if you don’t approach them, they won’t come to you.”
Former Banyana captain Amanda Dlamini, tweeted in May: “I’m still mad at myself for this, for allowing people to emotionally manipulate us of what we deserve [sic]. People make serious money with just under 50 caps of national duty. We still struggle to make ends meet during our prime &amp; even after retirement.”
In that lone statement, the pitiful situation can be summed up.
&#8211; By Sibusiso Mjikeliso

Stacks of Coins

Unequal Pay for Equal Play

Siya Kolisi’s elevation to the captaincy of the South African national rugby side drew global interest for what it symbolized but he admits it has been a tough road to earn his place as arguably the most iconic player in the country.
Kolisi comes from a poor Eastern Cape background and having faced a number of tests of his own strength and perseverance, has risen to be among the most inspirational sportsmen in South Africa.
The importance of having a first black captain of the Springboks, which during apartheid was seen as the preserve of the white minority and the political power they yielded, cannot be understated and as such Kolisi has been fielding interviews from around the globe, including American network HBO, with the United States certainly not a traditional market for rugby content.
It is perhaps hard for younger generations to understand why Kolisi being handed the role – and wearing the same number six jersey that Francois Pienaar and former South African president Nelson Mandela at the 1995 World Cup final – is such an important moment for South African rugby, but it is all about making the game more inclusive to all races.
Anecdotal evidence of South Africans who had never watched a rugby match before rushing home to be in front of their television sets for Kolisi’s first test leading the side against England at Ellis Park on June 9 were plentiful.
Suddenly, there is a role model, an individual that many black South Africans can identify with, leading the team against another major rugby power.
<div id="attachment_37071" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37071" class="wp-image-37071 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="493" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />Siya Kolisi of the Springboks during the Castle Lager Incoming Series 1st Test between South Africa and France at Loftus Versfeld Pretoria, South Africa. Photo via Getty Images</div>
But Kolisi admits that it needed a stern few words from Stormers coach Robbie Fleck in 2016 to push him in the right direction after making little impact in the early part of his career as he battled with the demands placed on a professional rugby player.
“I had a conversation with the coach and he told me I had to grow up, basically,” Kolisi tells FORBES AFRICA. “Since that day, I haven’t looked back. It’s not been easy, it’s been tough. I won’t lie, I had to mature a lot.
“Obviously now, I’m a leader at home as well, I have got kids that I must be a role model for. I had to change a lot of my ways.”
Kolisi was raised by his grandmother in the Zwide township near the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, but his sporting prowess earned him a scholarship to the prestigious Grey High School and changed his fortunes.
“I’m grateful to her, because she did everything she could to give me a life. She would go without food so that I could eat,” he said recently at a press conference.
“I couldn’t speak a word of English when I first attended Grey High, but my mates taught me and helped me with homework.
“Obviously, coming from the township and not having a lot, and coming to Grey, your dreams start becoming much bigger because you have so much. You have everything you need to be whatever you want to be.
“I started dreaming big. When I was in the township, to think that I would be here, you don’t dream like that. That’s my dream one day, to change that mentality [for others].”
Kolisi was snapped up by the Western Province Rugby Union in 2010, lured to Cape Town by their then coach Rassie Erasmus, who is now in charge of the Springboks.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2014/08/01/springbok-women-step-it-up-for-big-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Springbok Women Step It Up For Big Game</a>
He was handed the captaincy of the Stormers at the start of 2017, but there were still some murmurs of discontent from skeptical sections of the public when he was given the reins of the Springboks in June, with critics saying it was a political appointment to appease the South African government and deliver transformation targets for South African rugby.
<blockquote>“I can’t control what other people think of me, I can only control what I can do on the field,” Kolisi says.</blockquote>
“I think it is a genuine appointment by coach Rassie because he is not that kind of a person. I have known him since I was 18 years old. We sat down and he was straightforward with me and that is how it is. You always know where you stand with him.
“Coach Rassie is not a politician and neither am I. I am a rugby player and all I want to do is to play well and inspire South Africans of all races.
“I know how much of a big deal this thing is for the country and it is a great thing for me to be a role-model. As a Springbok, it is not only about rugby, it’s the things you do off the field.”
Kolisi’s first series in charge ended in a 2-1 home success over England and with a World Cup in Japan looming next year, he could be selected to lead the side at that global showpiece tournament.
But with other players who were previously named as captain ahead of him returning from injury, such as loose-forward Warren Whiteley and lock Eben Etzebeth, the ball will be in Erasmus’ court to see if he will stick with his historic appointment.
&#8211; By Nick Said

South Africa Press Conference

The New No. 6 Role Model In Rugby

Speedster Seabelo Senatla is the leading Sevens rugby player in the world but is now taking aim at glory in the 15-man game as he targets a first cap for South Africa’s Springboks this season with one eye on the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
A young Senatla dreamed of being an Olympic sprinter and idolized American 100-meters star Marion Jones, but it is with the oval ball in hand where he has risen to global fame and achieved his aim of appearing at the Olympics.
Athletics was always his first love, with a passion for rugby only coming once he had left school, but it still satisfies his need for speed.
“I loved Jones,” Senatla tells FORBES AFRICA. “After every race of hers I watched, I would go outside and mimic her running, trying to be as fast as I could.”
“I remember later, at nine years old, going out with my dad, who had plastic bags that he would use to simulate the sound of a starter’s pistol, and I would be off, fast as I could.”
“I just love running, still to this day. It was always my dream to run the 100-meters at the Olympics. I feel so free when I’m running; I imagine like a horse must feel when they are in full gallop.”
Senatla is already the leading try-scorer in Springbok Sevens history with 189 and the 24-year-old says that having made the switch to 15s, he will not be lost to that format completely, with the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the next Olympics in Tokyo in 2020 to look forward to.
But, in between those tournaments is the chance for the dreadlocked try-machine to be a part of the Bok squad that competes in the 15-man World Cup in two years’ time having taken up his contract with South Africa’s Cape Town-based Stormers Super Rugby franchise this season.
It has been a momentous few years for the Welkom-born flyer, who admits he never saw rugby as a serious career path until he left the Riebeeckstad High School in the Free State province’s mining city.
“I only played socially at school to be honest. I never took it seriously at all; it was just a chance to play with my mates, enjoy the tours and have some fun.”
“But after I finished school I decided to take a gap year before tertiary education. I was invited to the Harmony Sports Academy [in Virginia in the Free State] and that really opened by eyes.”
“There I was working with people who lived and breathed rugby, and put everything into the game. Everything changed for me. I was in a proper, professional rugby environment for the first time and that grew my passion for the game. I went from loving the social side, to loving playing.”
Oddly for a player of his extreme pace, Senatla says he barely played as a wing in his formative years.
“I was always the smaller type, so I was scrumhalf and then moved around a bit, to center and fullback. I actually never played wing for my school.”
It was while studying at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein and playing for his provincial Under-19 and -20 sides that Senatla started leaning towards a career in rugby.
“I could see there was something there. I could see this was something that could feed me and my family. I won a contract to play Sevens and then was called-up to the [2013] Junior Rugby World Cup squad in 15s, and it has gone on from there.”
Sevens has grown in glamour in recent years and is now a sport played at the Olympics. Senatla helped South Africa to the bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro last year, despite being injured for the latter stages of the tournament.
He was undoubtedly the best player on the Sevens circuit in 2016 and was honored as such by being named World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year.
He still has ambitions in that format, like turning Olympic bronze into gold and winning the Sevens World Cup, but for now there is another global prize that has caught his eye.
Having returned to Super Rugby with the Stormers in 2017, he is gunning for a place in Allister Coetzee’s Bok squad this year and was called up for a training camp in March.
“It’s obviously a very different challenge and basically a different game altogether,” he says. “I’m getting back into it slowly, but luckily the team I am at are a great bunch of guys who create a great environment to be in.”
“They play to a system-based structure, which is what I am used to in Sevens, where everybody knows there roles and moves in the same direction. So I am in the right team to develop.”
“There is no doubt my aim is to acquire the Springbok jersey and that is what I am working towards. The next World Cup [in 15s] is the big target. Imagine, I could win the World Cup in 15s and Sevens; that would be really something!”
Senatla says he views his career in phases – the first of which is now complete as he begins the second.
“The first phase was for me to play a lot of Sevens, supplemented with a bit of 15s, to help me develop my skills. Sevens is the best development any rugby player can have because of the skills needed to play the game,” he says.
“The second phase was to move to 15s on a more permanent basis, playing just limited Sevens. I want to remain in 15s for quite a few years, but obviously that depends on my contract situation.”
There is something else that drives him too. His mother, Patricia, was a fine netball player, but was denied the opportunity to compete on the international stage. He believes he gets his athletic ability from her side rather than father Bery, who is a police detective in Welkom.
“My mom was very good at netball, but apartheid took the chance of competing internationally away from her. Now I have the opportunity, it is a chance I want to use to the maximum. I feel very blessed, very lucky and very driven to succeed.”
More success is on the horizon for Senatla and the speedster plans to get there quickly.

The Dreadlocked Flyer Spicing Up Rugby

South Africa mourns the death of its Rugby World Cup hero Joost van der Westhuizen who fought motor neuron disease, with the same aggression he showed on the rugby field. Van der Westhuizen was diagnosed in 2011 and succumbed on February 6. Many remember Van der Westhuizen from his heroic show when he threw his body at All Blacks bully winger Jonah Lomu, denying them a 1995 World Cup victory at Ellis Park stadium, in Johannesburg.
On that day June 24, 1995, millions of South Africans, many watching rugby for the first time, watched the final against the 1987 World Cup winners. Both teams were undefeated. The match was a bookie’s headache.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-4648" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/GettyImages-188052620-300x209.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="209" />
The All Blacks menacing winger Lomu, a 120-kilogram giant, was the man to mark. The 20-year-old carried his team throughout the tournament. He crashed his way to becoming the tournament’s top try scorer. But the Springbok scrumhalf Van der Westhuizen, who stood at 1.88 meters and weighed 88 kilograms, was having none of it. Undoubtedly, he was the best scrumhalf that ever played in my lifetime. On defence, a scrumhalf is the weakest link, but Van der Westhuizen reinvented the position. He was what the coaches call an extra flank. The opposition avoided breaking in his channel because he scared you with his green eyes before destroying you, ball and all, with his massive shoulders.
Needless to say, Van der Westhuizen stole the spotlight as he cut down the aggressive attacks from Lomu. At full-time the game ended at 9-9, no tries. Seven minutes before the end of extra time, Van der Westhuizen picked up the ball behind a moving scrum and unleashed a bullet pass to the hands of Joel Stransky who booted it to victory.
In November 1993, a young Van der Westhuizen made his debut for the Springboks against Argentina, and within two years he was a fixture in the team. He captained the Boks 10 times and scored 38 tries in 89 test matches.
It is rare for a South African player to represent only one province, Van der Westhuizen played for one team only – the Blue Bulls of Pretoria.
In 2009, almost six years after retiring from the sport, all the good work that Van der Westhuizen did came close to destruction when a video with a blonde woman in a compromising position was leaked to the media. In the video he wore only underwear while sniffing white powder, believed to be cocaine. After denying it for some time, Van der Westhuizen manned up and admitted he was the man in the video. But that could not salvage his marriage to his popstar wife, Amor Vittone, who wanted a divorce.
Shortly after the devastating separation, the big-hearted Van der Westhuizen lost weight and   was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 2011. From then on he became a different champion, this time off the field. Van der Westhuizen dedicated his time to raising awareness about the disease. The J9 Foundation was formed – the name was in honor of his scrumhalf position.
Van der Westhuizen epitomized fighting spirit on and off the field.
“It’s a reminder that I achieved a lot in my lifetime. It’s a reminder of success. It’s actually a reminder of what it took for us a team to win the World Cup, if I can take that characteristic into my personal life in trying to fight this disease. That’s what I am doing at this stage,” said Van der Westhuizen before his death.
His former Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar, spoke at his memorial service in Pretoria.
“Joost loved winning, he was a competitor… In the times of amateur rugby, Joost had professional mind-set and discipline… Captaining Joost was incredibly easy and incredibly difficult. He always pushed the boundaries. An individual spirit that would do anything for his teammates. On the field he played like a rock star. Off the field he partied like a rock star. He was after all a rock star. He was funny and bloody naughty,” says Pienaar.
Apparently he was truly the naughty guy among his teammates. One of the tales says Van der Westhuizen sneaked under the table and tied teammates’ shoelaces together.
He was 45 years old and is survived by his two children, Jordan and Kylie, and his mother Mariana and father Gustav, and two brothers.

The Life Of A  Brave Fighter Who Could Be Naughty

It is noisy and crowded at the 155th birthday of Dale College in King William’s Town. Everyone, even people who never went to school here, are dressed in red and black school colours. The school army cadets march through the crowds with a clatter of boots. All, from toddlers to old men leaning on sticks, head for the CB Jennings rugby field; a sacred place at this school, affectionately known as ‘The Graveyard’ for it is where opposition teams are buried.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5582" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/13235694_1024381354304366_4024981304745766848_o-228x300.jpg" alt="" width="228" height="300" />
The noise around the field is deafening as the lean and lithe players jog slowly out onto the green grass. This weekend revolves around rugby and this pitch is a cradle of champions. Some of the biggest names in rugby cut their teeth – and probably a bit of flesh – on this ground: All Black Greg Somerville; Springbok wing Bjorn Basson; former Springbok and Blue Bulls hooker Bandise Maku; the first black captain of the Sharks Lubabalo Mtembu; former Proteas bowler Monde Zondeki; Sharks looseforward Keegan Daniel. Makhaya Ntini – the record holding South African test cricket player – also sprinted down the wing on this ground.
Steve Biko – the Black Consciousness Movement leader who grew up in Ginsberg a few kilometres down the road – would have been proud. Biko, who died in police custody just over 40 years ago, was also a rugby player as well as an idealist and activist.
It is likely even Biko would have been surprised by the slow, but sure transformation at this former whites-only elite school.
As the first team prepares for the kick off, Hennie Otto is the only white player. The other 14 are all black. Even the heaving stands that rise up around the pitch are a sign of the times. Each group of reunited former pupils sits together in the same row according to school year. The stands used to be all white. With every passing year a white row is replaced by a black one.
“Out of 550 odd learners, there are about 25 white, colored, Indian and other races. The rest of the learners are all African black, which is a fair representation of the town they come from and the country as a whole,” says Dale College Headmaster, Mike Eddy.
According to Eddy, Dale College took the lead in accepting black African learners in former Model C schools during the early 90s. While the school’s racial demographics may have changed over the years, the first team coach, Grant Griffiths, maintains that the school’s traditions and values have not.
“We’ve kept all our traditions when it comes to sports, especially rugby. The jersey hand out, the sing-songs, the slapping, initiation, and all those things. The learners and players want to keep it from A to Z,” says Griffiths.
Griffiths too was at Dale College. He captained the last unbeaten rugby team in 1993.
This year’s team has beaten all their rivals in the province, and is number one in the Eastern Cape and sixth in the country.
Dale’s coach says while not much has changed in the style of play, compared to the team he captained, the biggest challenge comes with culture.
As a predominantly Xhosa province, the boys have to undergo a month long initiation in the mountain, as part of their rite of passage to manhood.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5589" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1030405-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />
“It’s always difficult with the boys having to go to the mountain for initiation school but we’re working around that. The six weeks straight after coming back is the most important. Diet wise, nutrition, gym. We’re never going to be the biggest side in the world but as long as we’re strong and fit, we’ll be able to keep up with the big boys,” says Griffiths.
“People go, they come back and they change. For example, if you are a new cap, when you come back from the mountain you’ll have that mentality of ndingu bhuti ngoku [I’m a man now] so I can’t go around picking up cones. We always manage to work around that though,” says Kwanda Dimaza, who has also been to the mountain and is set to go to one of the country’s top rugby unions, the Sharks, next year. He made the SA Schools under-18 team last year when he was still in grade 11.
Another hindrance to Dale College’s abilities is students choosing more prestigious high schools after primary school. South Africa’s 200-meter national record holder and one of the fastest men in Africa, Anaso Jobodwana, is one of the many who left for the college’s fierce rival, Selborne College in East London. Stormers hooker, Siyabonga ‘Scarra’ Ntubeni, is another who left for King Edward VII School in Johannesburg.
“It’s been difficult over the years but we’ve managed to hold on to more now,” says Griffiths.
Dale Junior headmistress, Patricia Thatcher, the first woman to head Dale’s primary school, says the learners are taught to be the best.
“It is about the commitment and the passion of the staff first of all. With them on your side, you start instilling the discipline and commitment in the kids from grade ‘R’ and once they’ve got it, it’s there,” says Thatcher.
Interestingly, Thatcher doesn’t even know the racial demographics of Dale Junior.
“It’s not even an issue of transformation anymore, it just is. A lot of people ask ‘how do you get it right?’ It’s not a case of getting it right, it’s what comes natural to us,” says Thatcher.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5587" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/P1030446-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />
While transformation remains a thorn in the side of South African rugby, Dale’s first team coach says it has hampered the future of some players he has coached. Griffiths says rugby unions often take players from Dale College and those players, more often than not, spend their time at those unions on the bench.
“A player like Ace Joe for example got lost in the Blue Bulls set up for two years, which is a hell of an important two years for him. I think he got 20 minutes of game time that whole season which basically cost him his career,” says Griffiths.
He says the unions now guarantee the players game time when signing the youngsters.
He hopes to see players like Aphelele Fassi, who has already been offered a contract by the Sharks while in grade 11, Dimaza, who is also set to join the Sharks, and many others with offers at various unions, one day don the Springbok jersey.
“I’ve never seen that being hard. I think the players that come through, if they get looked after, after school like we do at Dale College, with the rugby and the players managed well, as well as given opportunities, I don’t see that ever being a problem.”
So while South African sport struggles against the twin problems of transformation and creating excellence, it could perhaps learn something from Dale College.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5585" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SouthAfricanTestTeamHeadshotsOX_2SxQXqEXl-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" />

Red, Black  And Covered In Glory

South African entrepreneur Wendy Luhabe has 26 years of experience in the boardrooms of a variety of businesses. She is now adding the unlikely sport of rugby to that list.
In July, Luhabe started her stint as the first female director of the World Rugby board. Her seat on this board is surprising as rugby is a largely white male-dominated sport in South Africa.
“I’m not a rugby fan, surprise, surprise. But I’m a patriot. Over the years, I’ve watched all the Springboks’ World Cup games, but not because I’m a sports fan. Most women don’t have the luxury of watching sport because we tend to have much more important things to do,” she says. “[Like] making a home, looking after children. It’s time consuming.”
In addition to being a wife and mother, Luhabe is also the Chair and Founder of the Women Private Equity Fund and has held governance roles with Vodacom, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the International Marketing Council (IMC) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
She was selected among 60 candidates from all over the world to help reform World Rugby, the international governing body of the sport. Luhabe was appointed alongside Mervin Davies, a former Welsh international rugby player and prominent businessman, as independent directors on the World Rugby board. Luhabe’s lack of experience in the oval-balled sport doesn’t bother her.
“We’re living in times where good governance is critical in any institution, not just sport… I think it’s more important to have business people because we are the ones that have the most governance experience than other sectors.”
Part of this governance is making the sport more popular in Africa.
“Rugby is not as well-known, or as well-entrenched, in the rest of the continent and that needs to be part of the agenda. It’s a continent of almost a billion people and there is no reason why we shouldn’t look at a strategy to make rugby as prevalent as soccer is around the continent.”
Luhabe says the sport is ideally suited to the natural athletic ability of Africans.
“Especially with Sevens [the shortened version of the game that rewards skill and pace]. I think that the African continent has a huge growth potential for rugby,” she says.
Despite rugby being one of the most brutal sports on earth, Luhabe wants to get more women playing.
“That’s where the future growth of rugby is, as surprising as it is that women play rugby.”
What about those that think rugby’s scrumming, tackling and mauling is too physical for women?
“I think that women must make the choices that they want to make; I don’t think that society should continue to make choices for women. I think that’s what’s remarkable about women playing rugby, as surprising as it is, it’s a choice they exercised and society must respect that. The women that were courageous enough to be the first to play, they are the trailblazers. In another 20 years, it will be normal.”
Being the first woman on the board of World Rugby makes Luhabe a trailblazer as well. She is part of a new group of women wrestling control of sports from the old men that have ruled for generations. In May, Senegal’s Fatma Samoura became the first female Secretary General at Fifa, football’s embattled governing body. Suddenly, sports bodies are trying very hard to get women involved.
“I suspect that they are looking for people that have the courage to challenge the status quo. In my experience, having served on male-dominated boards, you don’t find that among males. It’s only when you bring a woman into the board that the conversation changes and different questions are raised. I sense that they are really quite committed to the reforms they have agreed to and therefore they need to bring in an element that is really going to transform the leadership structures of these old and historic institutions.”
Samoura’s appointment was a surprise to many and some inside Fifa questioned her selection.
“I doubt that she would have come as far as she has if she had paid attention to those criticisms. I think women like her, and many others who break ground, women who believe in their capability and who are not as concerned about the criticism that other people have, because criticism is generally a reflection of a shift in society. When people are uncomfortable, they use criticism as a blunt instrument. I think women like her, and women like myself, are not concerned about criticism.”
Luhabe, the Founder of the Wendy Luhabe Foundation, is known for her philanthropy. Her social work will now extend to rugby.
“Sport in general has the capacity to build bridges, we saw during South Africa’s World Cup how Madiba changed our relationship with rugby, and again with the movie Invictus. We must use sport therefore to overcome social inequalities, and to level the unequal playing field and access to opportunities.”
In South Africa, rugby is criticized for its lack of transformation.
“It needs a commitment and an openness to bring in new voices and diverse people on their leadership structures. I’m not close to the dynamics of South African rugby to really know what the issues are. In the same way that World Rugby was comfortable to bring in a black woman, who has no knowledge of rugby, into their board, South African rugby needs the same openness.”
South African rugby could do with someone like Luhabe on its board – it’s unlikely to happen though.
“I think once you’ve played on the global stage, you don’t really go back, do you?”
A tough stance from a tough woman who is not going to be ruffled by any patriarchal system that rugby might have.

IMG_2349

The Tough  African  Woman  Tackling Rugby

Japan’s surprise last-minute defeat of the Springboks in the Rugby World Cup last year was glorious. South Africans were a bit put out but soon recovered, and that game is now legendary around the world for Japan’s courage, skill and daring.
In Japan, only 900,000 people watched the game live. That jumped to an astonishing 25 million for the team’s next match, and by the end of their pool games, a quarter of the country’s 126-million population had watched a game.
Now the island country prepares for a sterner test: hosting the World Cup in 2019.
“You ask what are my concerns?” the CEO of Japan Rugby 2019, Akira Shimazu responds over a cup of hot, green tea at his stadium office in Tokyo. “They are many.”
His gaze is direct as he ticks them off on his fingers.
“This is the first rugby cup in Asia. The first in a non-traditional rugby country.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5074" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_436425457-Urban-Napflin-Shutterstock.com--300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
“We were told by World Rugby that the England World Cup was record-breaking and ground-breaking (‘it broke the ground’ says the translator) and we must do better. But it is difficult for us to have the same style and do it the same way. We have a unique Japanese way to do things.”
“Then we are far away, very far away from England, Europe and South Africa. People must travel far.”
A shortish, squat man, built like a brick outhouse, Shimazu’s expression does not change much. But his eyes light up when I ask if he is optimistic. Sepp Blatter, I tell him, always maintained South Africa’s Football World Cup would be ‘the best ever’ despite many doubters.
“You know Invictus?” he asks. I nod. Everyone in Japan mentions the movie based on John Carlin’s book. The man responsible for the success of Japan’s Rugby World Cup says, “Our cup will be Invictus 2. Yes, Invictus 2!”
Shimazu is flanked by two of his lieutenants for the tournament. They don’t say much, it being the Japanese way to allow only the CEO to speak in a meeting until he invites them to contribute. All three are hugely optimistic, while aware of the many problems.
I am in Japan with two objectives: to see if Japan is ready and keen on rugby, and to see what problems tourists from Africa might face.
Tokyo’s brilliant new international stadium will not be ready on time because of cost overruns, so the final will be played in nearby Yokohama, about a 45-minute drive from Tokyo.
This is a city that’s keen on tourism, keen to host the Springboks, keen to host the media center, as they did for the Football World Cup in Tokyo.
Kozue Nakayama has a fancy title of Director General, Culture and Tourism Bureau, City of Yokahama. She assures me the city is taking the rugby very seriously.
“The final game will be at our Nissan Stadium. We are the city with the best relations with Africa,” she says proudly. “We will have to prepare all our signs in English, for the rugby and the 2020 Olympics the following year. And we have a program to teach all our taxi drivers to speak English by 2019.”
Her English is excellent. Seems ambitious to teach all the taxi drivers, but this is a city that decided all schools in its precinct must study at least one African country.
So what is like for visitors to Japan from Africa?
This is the third-biggest economy in the world, a first-world country where things work, where stuff is expensive, where a language barrier exists and where food is different.
It is also the most polite society on the planet, people are incredibly helpful, trains run on time, and nobody dreams of answering a cellphone on the train as it may disturb others.
I ask young South Africans studying for Master’s degrees, courtesy of the Japanese government, to tell me of their difficulties and experiences.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5076" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_434548408-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
“This place has the most amazing food,” says Patrick Leslie, doing a Master’s in Business Economics. “Appointments to companies here are lifelong commitments, by both sides. The whole culture is based on trust. And on ‘how can we help each other?’ which is great to experience.”
“You certainly don’t need a car, just hop in a taxi or bus or train, it will take you home. And it is always safe.”
Randall Reddy, studying a Master’s in Civil Engineering (Mechatronic train dynamic systems) at the University of Tokyo to go with his Master’s in Mechanical Material Sciences, says Japan is all about networking.
“They use resources well, don’t waste them. It is not about fast cars, it is about living well.
And the food is fantastic – I have put on five kilograms. You don’t have to give up red meat, there’s a lot of it. You end up with a great variety of food. Nor does it have to be expensive.”
Leslie chips in: “More restaurants now have English menus, and by the rugby in 2019 and the Olympics in 2020 they will all have.”
So what should I tell people at home?
“Tell them come see the Boks take the World Cup back&#8230; Tokyo no longer makes the top 10 most expensive cities. It’s not cheap, but not too bad. Japan has not had inflation for 20 years. You can find bargains everywhere. And no tipping.”
Sushi in Japan is a very different experience from sushi outside the country, yet the essence is the same. At a restaurant the chef will talk to you about the fish he serves you, one piece at a time. He chooses it, you do not, he puts on wasabi and soy, you do not – only the Americans ask for extra wasabi, one chef tells me conspiratorially. And once that happens, the chef will stop chatting to them.
At a very small (8 seats) restaurant in the earthquake area of Ishinomaki, where the tsunami took away his original restaurant, I ask the chef if he knows about rugby.
“Yes,” he says seriously. Then looks at me, and adds: “We beat you!” with a roar of laughter.
To give you a small taste of the exaggerated Japanese politeness you encounter everywhere, all the time, my guide on the Shinkansen train, traversing Japan at about 300km/h, explains to me in a normal voice in the First Class compartment how to eat eels.
The train manager came next to us, then, to my surprise, knelt on both of his knees in the corridor next to our seats, as if to royalty.
A man of about 45, he apologized profusely, bowed deeply while kneeling until his head almost touched the floor, then lifted his arms and placed one hand over the other in a T-shape. The horizontal top hand then pushed the vertical bottom hand down a little, then a little more.
This was his way of asking us to be a bit quieter, as we may disturb passengers by talking instead of whispering. Profuse apologies for asking us to be quiet. Extraordinary.
In a hotel lobby, if you ask for anything, the person will often run to get it. Run, not walk.
Of course cheap hotels are a bit different. You can get a four-sleeper for about 10,000 yen ($90) in Tokyo, but beds are right up against each other, really four duvets on a floor with a communal shower. But neat, tidy, clean.
So will Africans flock to Japan to support Kenya or South Africa or Namibia? Should they?
The first answer is hopefully they will, and the second a resounding “Yes!”
The 2019 World Cup may be the next Invictus and it may not be. Whatever happens, Japan is ready.

Will African Fans Flood Japan?

In March, I was assigned to the Four Nations Challenge, a basketball tournament at the Wembley Sports Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa. Winter had started early, so I wore my favorite Springbok rugby jacket. Back home, in the Eastern Cape, we wore scarves and jackets to rugby stadiums on rainy winter days. Rugby is in our blood. I passed my first rugby ball at the age of five.
At the Wembley Arena, I met Carey Odhiambo, the coach of Kenya’s basketball team. Odhiambo liked my green and gold jacket; he spoke of Springbok success and doing Africa proud. At the time, South Africa’s rugby team, the Springboks, were ranked second in the world , but are now fifth – an all-time low.
My acquaintance from East Africa, where rugby is still amateur, couldn’t care less about how many black and white players were in the team, until I raised the point. The Springboks are a far cry from representing the demographics of our population. But, Odhiambo didn’t mind, as long as the team was winning. Interestingly, Odhiambo’s basketball team was the antithesis of the Springboks: all his players were black. On the other hand, the Boks seem like a European team dotted with one or two African expatriates.
<div id="attachment_4128" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4128" class="size-medium wp-image-4128" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/GettyImages-473610208-300x239.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="239" />JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; MAY 16: Elton Jantjies of the Lions converts a penalty during the Super Rugby match between Emirates Lions and Brumbies at Emirates Airline Park on May 16, 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Duif du Toit/Gallo Images/Getty Images)</div>
Odhiambo was unaware that millions of blacks, like me, reluctantly support the Springboks because of this. But we smoked a peace pipe and exchanged jackets. Would that happen with a white South African compatriot?
South Africa has suffered from 500 years of colonialism, and apartheid, where opportunities were governed by racial privilege. Because of this history, almost everything in South Africa is a racial issue.
Let’s touch on where the Nelson Mandela Rainbow Nation farce began. In 1995, a year after the country’s first democratic elections, South Africa hosted its first Rugby World Cup and won it. On the day of the final, blacks and whites were behind the Springboks, that was all white save for one player, Chester Williams. We won the World Cup and hoped that talent from the townships would be nurtured.
A year after the World Cup, a new and unapologetically racist coach, Andre Markgraaff, was appointed and went on to win eight and lose five test matches before resigning. Markgraaff was taped referring to black rugby officials as kaffirs, a gaffe he profusely apologized for. He did not select a single black player in his year as coach. In 1997, an inexperienced Carel du Plessis took over. Of his eight matches, Du Plessis won three. Not a single black player was involved in that mediocre record, resulting in Du Plessis getting the boot.
It took a third coach, Nick Mallet, to at least select six black players in three years. Mallet, who took the team to the World Cup in 1999, won 27 and lost 11; between 1997 and 2000. Between 2000 and 2003, little happened under Harry Viljoen and Rudolph Straeuli.
<div id="attachment_4126" style="width: 221px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4126" class="size-medium wp-image-4126" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/000_APP1999100536076-211x300.jpg" alt="" width="211" height="300" />South African centre Kaya Malotana runs with the ball during a training session at the Goldenacre rugby stadium in Edinburgh, 05 October 1999. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE)</div>
The Springboks won a second World Cup under Jake White in 2007. Under White, they won 36 of their 54 matches and 23 black players were selected in four years. The transformation work done by White, and his successor Peter de Villiers, who saw 21 black players earning Bok caps between 2008 and 2011, was commendable. Sadly, the incumbent Heyneke Meyer is undoing this.
Meyer has been the coach since 2012 and is in charge of the Springboks at the World Cup in England this year. It’s not guaranteed he will win, or even reach the quarterfinals, at the World Cup based on the recent lacklustre performances. In the five games leading up to the World Cup, Meyer lost to Argentina for the first time in the country’s history in August. The team’s world ranking is its lowest since 1996.
Meyer is spoilt for choice when it comes to talented black players. Yet he chose to overlook them and picked white players who are older than 30 instead.
A case in point is Jean de Villiers, the captain who has served the Springboks well since 2012. But, the 34-year-old center is laden with injuries and has lost his pace. Meyer’s patience with De Villiers cannot be justified on the grounds that there’s a dearth of capable centers. This is one in the eye for the 26-year-old utility back, Lionel Mapoe, from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, who had a brilliant Super Rugby tournament with the Golden Lions. Despite coming through the ranks, he has played only one test, against New Zealand, in July.
Elton Jantjies is another case. He has played twice for Springboks and was the best South African flyhalf in Super Rugby. His sin is being black. Meyer has shown no interest in picking him, instead favoring the white players, Pat Lambie and Handre Pollard. Statistically, Jantjies had a better Super Rugby than them.
The South African Rugby Union (Saru), the toothless governing body, and the sport ministry, has given Meyer so much carte blanche that he thinks he is doing the right thing.
<div id="attachment_4127" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4127" class="size-medium wp-image-4127" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/000_Par8238225-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />South African Springboks center Lionel Mapoe stands during the National anthem ahead of a Rugby Championship Rugby union match against New Zealand All Blacks on July 25, 2015 in Johannesburg. AFP PHOTO / MUJAHID SAFODIEN</div>
To rub salt into the wound, Saru has extended the deadline for transformation. Saru’s target for 2019 is for a 50% white, 30% black and 20% colored representation of Springboks and domestic Currie Cup teams.
Kaya Malotana, selected by Mallett in 1999, was the first black African Springbok. The 38-year-old director of coaching at Alberton Rugby Club, near Johannesburg, bemoans a lack of will. The Eastern Cape winger, from the small town of Lady Frere, earned one cap for the Springboks.
“The problem with doing things when under pressure is that you set unrealistic targets. Fifty percent black and colored representation is setting everybody up for failure because not enough players of color are being selected in Super Rugby. People will turn around and say, ‘these black players have compromised the quality of the Springbok team,’” says Malotana.
I want to demystify the notion that people who question transformation in South African rugby are not supporters. This is not true. During the World Cup, black people will put their differences aside and don their green and gold regalia and support the Springboks. Dee

Why I Support My Country With A Heavy Heart

Alonely dirt road leads to a rustic farmhouse with old-fashioned shutters, wooden beams and creeping vines. By the entrance are a few ageing oak barrels, still sturdy and red from years of storing wine.
It is a fitting prelude to the man you are about to meet.
We are at Vriesenhof, a farm nestled between the Stellenbosch and Helderberg mountains in the Paradyskloof Valley of South Africa’s Western Cape. These winelands are rife with grapes and gossip, and boast a colorful cast of characters, mostly wine farmers who relate the valley’s stories, and often are stories themselves.
This is a world where wine and winning are spoken of in the same breath.
And in this cavernous house, a remodeled 18th century cellar, Jan Boland Coetzee, the renowned Springbok rugby player and venerable vintner, exemplifies both.
Within seconds of meeting him on this impromptu visit, Coetzee shows he is a true son of the soil. It is a warm April. Barefoot and brisk, in beige shorts, he darts from the living room, to the kitchen, to the backyard – where his elder daughter Hanle, who lives close by, is earnestly laying out tables for an evening do at the house.
In the kitchen – shelves laden with wine bottles – there are sizzling sounds on the stove, followed by the aroma of – possibly – deep-fried fish cakes. Coetzee is issuing instructions to a few laborers at the back. He soon returns to sit at the large yellowwood dining table, decked with flowers in vases set like a Vincent van Gogh painting.
Originally Dutch, Coetzee says his ancestors came to the Cape in 1679. It is here, in this valley at the foot of the Stellenbosch mountains, that he learned the game of rugby and the art of making wine.
Coetzee purchased Vriesenhof in 1980 – “for its south-facing slopes on the cooler side of the foothills” – and has been here since, cultivating plantings of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, pinotage and pinot noir, sold under the labels of Vriesenhof and Paradyskloof.
“I love to take pride in what is ours, what is South African,” says the valley’s doyen of pinotage.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4031" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Teddy-Leung-Shutterstock.com-002-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
“I focused on pinotage when I was young, as it is the only grape variety since its birth that has really taken on a commercial collective in the world of wine. And if it is doing well, it means we are proud of it, because it is born under the African sun, it is performing under the African sun, and we take pride because we believe it is ours.”
Coetzee pauses between words and sentences, but when he speaks, he makes you feel the earth around you: the air, the sun, the soil. Clearly, it is his territory – and terroir.
“Wine is a mirror of the environment first and foremost, because it is a product of the soil. In that, lies our future. Man needs to understand the soil, the plant, to put it in its right place in the right environment to give it its best. And the more you care, the better it gets,” he says.
The man has a deep love for the farm, and is happy just to be in it – with his glass of chardonnay.
“I love what I am doing, I love the farm, and I love drinking good wine. It’s as simple as that,” says the sprightly 70-year-old whose days on the 85-hectare farm begin at 4AM.
Coetzee studied oenology and viticulture at Stellenbosch University.
“I didn’t become a vet so I became a viticulturist. It’s amazing how many winemakers wanted to become vets,”
he laughs.
“I still have the record for writing the most exams before I passed. So I have a very broad knowledge. Like the wooden barrel, it’s [like] the un-opening of old wine.”
While still a student, Coetzee became captain of the university’s Under-18 rugby team.
“Everyone in South Africa plays rugby from a young age,” he says.
He played for his provincial team, Western Province, from 1967 to 1979, and played flank for the national team, the Springboks, from 1974 to 1976.
He stopped playing when a tour was cancelled in 1979 on account of apartheid when South African sport also took a hit.
“From a South Africa point of view, things were bad in terms of international rugby because of apartheid. We were isolated… When the tour was cancelled, I stopped playing and went to France in 1981 to work in a wine house in Burgundy for a year,” says Coetzee.
That was the tipping point. He returned wiser, and helped lift the profile of wine in Stellenbosch. Today, he sells his wine all over the world; Scandinavia is his biggest market.
Coetzee may have stopped playing rugby, but he uses it well in his wine analogies.
“We used to export 74 percent of our crop, but now try and get as close as possible. We do 50:50 local and export. Rugby has taught me to have two legs. If you kick [with] one leg, one can hopefully stand on the other,” he says.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4030" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Fingerhut-Shutterstock.com_-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
Coetzee vividly remembers that tear-jerking moment when Nelson Mandela handed the trophy to Springbok captain François Pienaar during the 1995 World Cup final. Coetzee was present, as a spectator.
“It was a special day, not only for sport but also for mankind. I remember that moment clearly. I can still see it.”
Coetzee has ensured his legacy – in both rugby and wine – lives on.
“My grandsons [between the ages of five to 10] all play rugby. They also made their first wine in 2015. Each of them has a barrel from the vintage of the year they were born in,” says Coetzee.
Divorced, Coetzee lives by himself. Fortunately, his four children are all into farming in some way, and visit frequently. His daughter Hanle says the most remarkable thing about her father is his humility.
“He has 40 years plus of experience of harvests and climates in the wine industry. He has seen good vintages, and bad. The new, younger winemakers are well-traveled, whereas in his time, the exposure and material were limited. He has old-world knowledge. If he drops dead tomorrow, it’s all gone, I don’t know how to capture it,” she says.
How much is he worth? Coetzee thinks long and hard, before answering: “I actually can’t put a number to it; we are not [into] numbers. We want to be loving and caring people, and that you can’t measure in currency. Money is an evil necessity. I am a big believer of the barter system – milk farmers and cheese farmers must drink wine, and I must eat cheese. They must produce meat, and they must drink wine. I try to convince all my farming colleagues in the mutton, beef, cheese, fish and lobster businesses to [barter].”
And are they listening? For sure, he says with certainty.
Coetzee has many admirers in the valley, across generations. About three kilometers from his Vriesenhof farmhouse, at the Kleine Zalze estate, its owner Kobus Basson, another Stellenbosch success, says Coetzee was instrumental in exposing him to the lifestyle around the wine business. He turned the rugby-playing lawyer into one of the region’s top wine farmers.
“Jan Coetzee is one of the characters of Stellenbosch, you can’t tell a wine story without him,” says the 57-year-old Basson of the senior entrepreneur.
“He is the type of guy [who] if there is snow in the mountains, would still walk in his short pants, with muscles like he has. He is a Stellenbosch legend, one of the five wine personalities that built this industry.”
Basson’s father was a figurehead in the local rugby club and that was his first connection with Coetzee. Plus, Basson’s initial 10-year legal practice ensured he interacted with most of the wine farmers.
“When you work with them, it’s like a friendship. Jan was the guy who spent a lot of time in France, and knew all the wine areas well. In 1996, I went with him and a few other prominent guys – while I was still a legal guy – on a trip to Argentina, and that gave me a completely different perspective of the industry. They were much ahead of us.”
Basson says South Africa’s wine industry matured only in the last 20 years. After he finished his law degree at Stellenbosch University, Basson took a year off to go to central Europe to be a rugby coach.
“I went there to play and coach and work on relationships, in what they called the European B-League rugby countries. It actually exposed me to other things – to wine, food and the lifestyle around it… I understood how the Germans, Dutch and French work in a different way with wine… I immediately got this idea about lifestyle and food and wine combinations.”
Returning to Stellenbosch, he practiced as a lawyer, and got into the wine business more by default than design.
“My wife came from a wine family, and told me she wanted to live on a farm. I said ‘forget it, I am not farming’. Eventually, in 1996, her brother was running the family farm, and was looking for an opportunity with a winery, and I told him about Kleine Zalze [that I had heard] was on the market. He asked me for money to pay the deposit, and that’s how I got involved. He said ‘in the meantime, you can have 50 percent share of it’, and before I realized, I was sucked into it, because this is a business that sucks in money, in terms of capital investment.”
They bought the 40-hectare farm and after the first harvest, signed up with importers from Britain, who had high expectations.
“I thought, ‘either you do it properly or bail out’. In retrospect, I can see how the year in Germany helped, how my friendship with Jan Coetzee formed me,” says Basson.
During the nineties in South Africa, golf and wine tourism was just starting, so he thought: “Why do we go to Tuscany and Provence, when we actually have everything here? Why can’t we create it here?”
It was hard work. Every day, for a decade, Basson woke up at 3AM.
“I had no choice. It was crazy and difficult years, the interest rates went up between 1998 and 2002. I had to invest my shares and everything I had. Cash flow was the challenge during those years; we had to slowly and steadily build this up.”
Today, Kleine Zalze is 280 hectares, including the wine estate, an 18-hole golf course, a 47-bedroom lodge and the award-winning Terroir restaurant with chef Michael Broughton. Basson says all the businesses are doing very well.
“We are doing well in terms of exports [too]; I would say we do more than 200,000 cases of Kleine Zalze wines a year. And we have won several awards,” he says.
Chenin blanc is the brand’s specialty.
The last season for wine tourism in Stellenbosch was wonderful, adds Basson, who is also a director of the Stellenbosch Wine Route.
“If we stay calm and focused, it’s a very exciting period ahead… We have done research and the interesting thing is they compared different regions, and Stellenbosch has by far the highest visitor return rate. We have guys who have come to Stellenbosch 18 years in a row. You won’t find [a place] more beautiful. You have no idea how sexy Stellenbosch is.”
And like any good sportsman, he says his greatest asset is his team.
“You need strong players in your team… [The wine industry] is a little bit like top-end sport. It’s so competitive, if you don’t play with your best team, you are not going to win.”
What is it they say about wine and winning in the valley? It’s the same thing. And Coetzee agrees.

Tag: Rugby

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA