Rugby
The inspirational captain of South Africa’s World Cup-winning rugby team explains how he's using the achievement as a springboard to help impoverished children in the townships where he grew up.
When he lifted the Rugby World Cup trophy in the Japanese city of Yokohama amid a cascade of golden ticker tape, igniting an explosion of joy thousands of miles away in South Africa, Siya Kolisi could have been forgiven for feeling he had completed one of sport’s most inspiring journeys.
Here he was, someone who had once wondered as a hungry township boy where his next meal would come from now finding himself the shining symbol of a nation’s pride and new-found hope as the first black test captain to lead the Springboks to World Cup glory.
Every generation has that one battle they have to face, this was our one
It was a triumph that would see both the team collectively and himself individually claim a number of prestigious awards, including being named the most influential person in rugby in a list compiled by Rugby World magazine in July 2020.
Kolisi, however, is adamant that the landmark success must be a force for the greater good in South Africa for years to come.
“In the townships and the suburbs, you now see people running and playing together, and young black kids with a picture of (white lock forward) Eben [Etzebeth] saying, ‘I want to be like you one day’, and that’s exactly what we are playing for.
“We achieved it a little bit, and now we need to maintain it," he says. "Winning the World Cup is not just for us to gain personally, but to help people in the community.”
It was after South Africa’s 32-12 triumph over England that Kolisi had taken the microphone in the Yokohama International Stadium and delivered a passionate message of hope to all South Africans. Now he feels the responsibility to deliver on that promise.
“My motivation, waking every single day, when I put on the jersey, I represent every single person who struggled. But I don’t just represent them, I want to work for them and create better opportunities," he says.
“We're trying to build over 100 sports fields in the community and are putting laptops and iPads in schools so the kids have better learning opportunities. I'm working mostly with schools as I believe the children need a proper opportunity.”
His push is informed by his own experiences growing up in the township of Zwide in Port Elizabeth where, brought up by his grandmother Nolulamile after his mother passed away, he was stalked by hunger, had to sleep on the floor and the family would struggle to scrape together the 50 rand a year – about three and a half US dollars – in school fees.
He was transported into a dream new world with a rugby bursary that saw him enrolled at Port Elizabeth’s prestigious Grey High School. Now he wants those township kids who idolise him to believe that if he can do it, so can they.
“I think I wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t go through those struggles but that still doesn’t make it right for kids to have to go through the past that I went through," says Kolisi.
“I used to go to school just to get a meal. I got a slice of bread and some powdered milk and that would keep me going for the whole day. You deserve more, as you can’t do all your sports, homework and concentrate in class on one meal a day.”
Kolisi's new iconic status doesn't sit too easily with the 28-year-old father-of-two. “I don’t play to be famous,” he says. "I never wanted to be famous, and never thought I would be.
“I just wanted to be effective and make a difference. People stopping us on the street comes with winning the World Cup and I don’t mind it at all, but it's quite a lot and I'm struggling a little bit with it.
“I understand it, though. When I was in a restaurant and freaking out that I saw Jürgen Klopp (manager of Kolisi’s beloved English Premier League football team, Liverpool), I understood what it meant for them. I am also a big groupie when I see someone I like!”
It was the same at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix when he was introduced to the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen. “My knees buckled a bit when he came past, I didn’t know what to do,” he says, laughing.
Many people in South Africa feel just as star-struck about the new hero in the number six shirt, even if he doesn’t know if the triumph he’d overseen was even more important to the country than when Nelson Mandela wore the jersey while presenting the World Cup to Springboks skipper Francois Pienaar in 1995.
“I can’t say that but for us as a team it was special," says Kolisi. "Every generation has that one battle they have to face, this was our one. We definitely want to do more and make sure we keep on improving. How significant it is, isn’t for us to decide.”
These are crazy days off the field for Kolisi, but he doesn't need reminding of his responsibilities. “I can win the World Cup as the first black test captain, but there will be another,” he says. “To be remembered for all the things that you do and as someone who makes people smile, touches people’s lives – that is what should wake you up every single morning.”