It is high time our leaders up their game
It’s already been a bumper year for South African sport and we’re only halfway through 2025! Our sportsmen and women have excelled across the board, from cricket and rugby to surfing and the Comrades marathon.
These are just a few of our achievements:
Cricket:
South Africa beat Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship at Lord’s in London on June 14.
Rugby:
As of June 16, the Springboks continue to hold on to the top spot in the 2025 World Rugby Rankings, ahead of New Zealand, Ireland and France.
Strongest man:
South Africa’s Rayno Nel caused one of the biggest upsets in World’s Strongest Man history when he won the WSM competition – the first African to ever win the title.
Surfing:
South Africa’s Jordy Smith came first at the Margaret River Pro in Australia recently to claim the number one spot in the World Surf League Rankings.
Athletics:
As of late May 2025, South Africa’s Akani Simbine holds the title of the fastest man in the world in the 100m sprint, achieving a time of 9.86 seconds.
Flying the flag for South African women, Prudence Sekodiso ran the fastest 800m in the world this year with a time of 1:58.40.
And who could forget the blistering performance of Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile, Bradley Nkoana, and Akani Simbine in the 4x100m final at the 2025 World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou. They ran a world-beating time of 37.61 seconds to clinch the record.
Mixed Martial Arts
South African Dricus du Plessis is the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion (the first South African to win a UFC title).
Ultra Marathon
From an international field of over 20 000 runners, South African superstars Tete Dijana and Gerda Steyn once again proved their prowess by winning the men’s and women’s Comrades Marathon. It was Gerda’s 4th win (the last 3 consecutively) and the 3rd for Tete.
There are undoubtedly many more accomplishments I could mention, but our athletes’ successes raise one very important question:
If excellence is possible in sport, why not in governance?
While South Africans of all backgrounds unite to celebrate our sporting success, there is growing discontent and disillusionment with the achievements (or lack of) our local and national government.
Service delivery is either mediocre at best or completely lacking at worst. It seems that mediocrity is the new accepted level of excellence; unlike our elite athletes, instead of striving to deliver higher standards, government seems content to deliver the bare minimum.
In sport, success is measured by tangible results: wins, records, medals. If you don’t do well, you don’t receive a reward. Success is only for those at the top of their game, and that comes from hard work, commitment, accountability (to coaches, sponsors and fans), and a clear and focused effort on improvement.
In government on the other hand, rewards are expected (and given) regardless of performance. Corruption, patronage, and a lack of transparency and accountability are systemic barriers to good governance, but this doesn’t stop those in positions of power from rewarding themselves and those in their inner circle with remunerations, gifts and bonuses that even our most successful sportsmen and women could ever hope to receive.
When comparing sporting excellence to national governance, the difference is clear:
Accountability.
Coaches, athletes, and teams are directly accountable for their performance. Their results – good or bad – are visible, and consequences for underperformance are usually swift and uncompromising.
Coaches are dismissed and players are dropped. If you want to get back on the team, you have to work all the harder to prove your worth, because there are many hungry players waiting to take your place.
Becoming a world class athlete takes discipline, talent, an incredible work ethic, and unwavering commitment. You only play if you’re good enough.
In government, it’s all carrot and no stick. All you need are the right friends in the right places.
Unlike sport, meritocracy rarely comes into the equation. We have many ministers in positions for which they have little, if any experience. Some even lack basic levels of education, such as a Matric pass.
Perhaps the key difference lies in the deep development of sporting prowess and team ethics that starts at school level.
South Africa has around 6 000 secondary schools, but sports experts estimate that only 40 or so have produced the majority of Proteas cricketers since 1994. Similarly, most of our Springbok rugby players are believed to come from a similarly small number of schools.
Bloemfontein’s Grey, which was founded in 1855, has produced a record 46 Springboks, for example. Bishop’s, in Cape Town, comes in a close second with 43.
There is a line of thought that says there’s too much emphasis on sports development at schools, but perhaps this isn’t a bad thing? After all, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the proof is in the results. Our sports men and women are among the very best in the world.
Sadly, there is no such focus in our schools on developing leaders.
Is it any wonder, then, why our athletes excel and our leaders, well, don’t?
Excellence is possible, and our sport proves it.
So, as former South African cricketer Vince van der Bijl writes in an article for the Daily Maverick, “The shroud of inequality in race, education, employment, location, wealth, etc, will continue to smother South Africa, unless the government and so many politicians of influence shed their egotistical craving for another term in office, wealth and self-importance.
“Can the government of national unity understand that, as the national teams play for their country and every person, so should they?
It’s a great question, and once to which our entire country deserves an answer.