Comment by Leighton Koopman
From Zwide to two-time world champion to the TIME100 list for 2024.
Springbok legend Siya Kolisi added another feather to his cap on Wednesday as he joined a select group of South Africans – including his icon, former president Nelson Mandela – on the 2024 TIME100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
He features on the list alongside other influential people, including fellow sports star and F1 great Max Verstappen, Spanish soccer star Jenni Hermoso and American footballer Patrick Mahomes.
Actors Taraji P. Henderson and Dev Patel, and Nigerian musician Burna Boy, are also among some of the famous names on the TIME100 list, which will be released today.
To some, it may seem Kolisi is out of place among those appearing on the list.
Yet his rise to greatness from very humble beginnings, along with his passion and determination to change those very humble beginnings for plenty of other South Africans, is exactly why he is and should be on it.
It is not by chance he was selected out of billions of people worldwide for such a massive honour.
Early in his captaincy, Kolisi realised what his appointment as the first black rugby Test captain of South Africa could mean for the country. But it was only after lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in 2019 that the country realised what it meant.
He could’ve easily just gone about his way as the captain, taking the Springboks to win after win, but the rugby on the field wasn’t the be-all and end-all for him.
Congratulations @SiyaKolisi on being honoured in the 2024 Time100 💎
— Roc Nation Sports International (@RocNationSI) April 17, 2024
Read more: https://t.co/IKd47LP7Vi pic.twitter.com/2rW4beocmj
Kolisi is not just Siya the captain, or Siya the rugby player, but also Siya the father, the humanitarian and the inspiration to millions of South Africans, especially youngsters, who find themselves in the same circumstances he once was in – having to go to bed with hardly anything to eat as a kid, and having to beg for food from neighbours.
After getting an opportunity in rugby, he changed his life from being the life of the party to walking away from those challenges.
His quote on the Kolisi Foundation website reads: “My dream is to provide more opportunities for our youth to realise that wherever they live, in the suburbs or a township, they can be anyone they want to be.”
And that is currently what he brings to South Africa; hope and inspiration, and far more than what many of the country’s politicians bring. It’s little wonder there are calls – though tongue-in-cheek – for Kolisi to stand for president.
There are of course those who believe Kolisi should not have earned this accolade, but the majority of South Africans will be fully behind their captain.
Yes, it was a team effort that brought the back-to-back World Cup triumphs, and Kolisi will be the first to say it wasn’t through him alone that the trophies were won.
But every team (and country) – it doesn’t matter what walk of life you find yourself in – need that leader who can inspire change through their actions.
The one who will go above and beyond for people from all walks of life (off the field too). The one who motivates and inspires through their actions, not just by word.
And that is Siya Kolisi – the humanitarian, the double World Cup-winning captain, now celebrated by millions around the world as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2024.