The spotlight has never been brighter on Temba Bavuma. However, where once he might have shied away from the glare, in 2026 he’s embracing it.
Off the field, the Temba Bavuma Foundation continues to uplift children and communities in need.
Bavuma has spoken powerfully about the violence women live with in South Africa and demanded men reflect on the responsibility they have, their role in society and for the government to lead.
As a father whose firstborn celebrated his third birthday last Tuesday with a brightly coloured cake topped with Power Rangers figures, Bavuma understands the profound example he sets.
It’s a load to bear, and that’s before he begins the most important season of his career, on Friday. “It’s scary,” he said about the daily horror South African women face.
Bavuma has highlighted how his wife, Phila, purchased a taser for herself. “And that’s when it’s real… it’s here at home, and you can see the fear and panic that our females have. As men we are seen as providers; that’s the traditional role… whichever way you want to look at it. I think we are failing there.”
Whatever criticism Bavuma is almost certain to face for what happens on the field this summer will be insignificant when seen through that social prism.
One of most respected
Starting his 12th season as an international and his fourth as Test captain, the 36-year-old is firmly established as one of the most respected leaders in the game. In that same period he has elevated his game, averaging over 50 across 13 Tests to become his side’s best batter.
Australia provides a momentous challenge at the start of a consequential 13 months for Bavuma. “I don’t know if I will have the opportunity to play against Australia again in a Test series. Every game that I play from now on, there’ll be a lot of embracing and wanting to feel every moment and every experience that comes before me,” he said.
We are on this hunt for trophies. We have two opportunities for silverware next year. Personally, I want to be the guy at the front leading the team to that
— Temba Bavuma, Proteas captain
Bavuma has twice been part of series wins against Australia. On a tour where he gained global acclaim for running out David Warner in Perth, his two half-centuries in 2016 were even more crucial to South Africa’s third consecutive series win Down Under.
Yet despite those successes, profound lessons would still be learned from the Australians in a chastening series loss in 2022/23. “I had a decent tour. But I got a proper sense of what I needed to do to compete with the best in the world.
“From there things have improved quite a lot in my game, more mentally, finding ways to get into the game, to be competitive and look for ways to make a play for the team. I regard that tour as one of the important ones in my career.”
How he leads
Those lessons have been applied to how he leads the current side. “I’m very fortunate in the confidants that I have around me, who help me drive the team in a certain direction and speak and act in a way that I like and allow us to achieve what we want to achieve.
“It’s also been nice for us to embrace each other and not force guys to act a certain way. When I think about my early days with the Proteas, you always felt you had to be a certain way. You looked at the seniors, and they acted a certain way, and you would feel, naively, that you had to be like AB [de Villiers] or like an [Hashim] Amla for you to be successful.
“It’s only later on in my career that I understood, by just embracing yourself and whatever your strengths and weaknesses are, whatever makes you odd, that allow, when you put all of that in a pot as a team, to have this certain culture and outlook.”
Having won the World Test Championship last year, Bavuma is acutely aware that there is a target on the Proteas.
“Our biggest thing as a team, which I didn’t think was there, was to get over that insecurity or imposter syndrome. How do we carry this mantle of being world champions? People will speak, but it is not for us to make it a part of our thing.”
Hunt for trophies
Proof that they were comfortable with the crown was immediate; a drawn series after being 0-1 down in Pakistan was followed by a first Test series win for the Proteas in India in 25 years.
Motivation is easy to summon, but it is about controlling and directing the energy the players draw from it in the right way.
“Personally, I want to be the guy at the front leading the team to that. Whether that defines who I am, we will only know come November next year.”
An era in which legacy is on the line starts at Kingsmead, against an opponent to which South Africa no longer plays second fiddle.
“We look at this series as a hurdle to overcome, and to get to where we want to be, we have to overcome the Australians. We have the advantage that it is at home. We know the bigger picture — the goal is to find ourselves in the WTC [World Test Championship] final,” Bavuma said.
“That is at the back of our minds, but in front of us now is how to put our best foot forward to be successful on that first day in Durban.”
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