A young Siya Kolisi spent his days playing rugby on a thorny, gravel-strewn field in Zwide township in Port Elizabeth, with no idea that just a few kilometres away, more affluent boys played on lush green grass.
Then he got a taste of life on the greener side after securing a bursary to Grey High School in the Eastern Cape city, and realised what he had been missing.
“At the time, I wasn’t thinking about how horrible the conditions were because I didn’t see any better conditions around me,” he told the Sunday Times this week.
Although he had played barefoot on fields with no grass as a child, he and his friends had not felt hard done by because it was all they knew.
“We still had fun and used what we had, but it was only when I went to Grey that I realised this wasn’t right.”
Now the Springbok rugby captain’s dream to give impoverished young children a proper rugby field to play on is becoming reality.
Work on levelling and grassing a rugby field at Mbekweni Youth Centre in Paarl in the Western Cape got under way last week.
The project is a collaboration with lifestyle brand Freedom of Movement, using money raised from the sale of the green veldskoen that the rugby legend has put his name to.
Kolisi said the goal is to develop 100 sports fields in townships across SA.
The rollout of the fields is set to begin once the Mbekweni project is completed, which is scheduled for the end of April.
“I’ve been there, I’ve played these fields, I’ve walked these streets,” said Kolisi.
“I know what it would mean to kids out there, because a couple of years ago that was me, and I know what a difference it can make if someone cares.
“Someone did care, and they opened the door for me. Now I get to pay that grace forward,” said Kolisi, who led SA to victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup with a 32-12 win over England in Yokohama, Japan.
The conditions Kolisi knew as a boy are still a reality for many children in SA, but he wants children from townships such as Mbekweni to know there is a better option out there.
Mbekweni Youth Centre is a place where children can go for extra tuition or to train, but the sports field has been in a poor state for years.
We wanted to help out by tackling the field so that the kids have options after school, which will help keep them away from the negativity on the streets
— Siya Kolisi
“We wanted to help out by tackling the field so that the kids have options after school, which will help keep them away from the negativity on the streets,” he said.
He said once the field at Mbekweni is ready, a derby match between two teams from the community will be held to celebrate.
Kolisi said the adults and children from the community are ecstatic about the project.
“We want them to know that this is not about my name or Freedom of Movement, but it’s about them and making a difference,” he said.
“This is about striving to build the SA we want to live in.”
The Siya Kolisi Foundation is involved in several other projects, including donating iPads to schools in previously disadvantaged areas.
100 - The number of township sports fields Siya Kolisi hopes to develop across SA
— IN NUMBERS
“The most recent drop we did was to my former school, Emsengeni Primary School, and I have plans to do a whole lot more.
“It’s important to live out the SA you want to see every day, and whatever journey you have, you have to protect it and just go for it as hard as you can.”
Freedom of Movement co-founder Roal Boezaart said the project would be ongoing.
“Without giving too much away, we are planning a significant project with Siya in his hometown — which won’t be limited to a field — which we are incredibly excited about. Mbekweni is only our first step,” said Boezaart.
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