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The Politics Of Siya Kolisi

When Siya Kolisi was named Springboks captain in 2018, the most memorable part of that press conference was Siya denying that his appointment was politically motivated. A nice way of saying he was appointed based on his race and for the sake of "optics".

This proves that as hard as Siya has fought to keep away from racial issues and political issues, it has always found ways to rear its head. Even in the build-up to every game, there will be Twitter users who bemoan the team's selection and inevitably, racial representation on the team.

Francois Cleophas is an associate professor of sports history at Stellenbosch University and also a contributor at theconversation.com, where he often shares posts about South African sports figures, in particular an Indian bodybuilder named Milo Pillay, who was infamously denied the chance to represent South Africa in the Olympic weightlifting in the 1940's.

Cleophas' writings in 2018 about Milo Pillay are important because they note a pattern of how athletes of color are often stripped of political agency and thus lose power over their narrative.

It's not a direct 1-to-1 comparison, but Siya Kolisi has been subject to similar types of disseminations and even outright slander in his time as Springbok captain. The repeated attempts by some commentors that always try to racialize and politicize Siya's time as Springbok captain, are less about understanding and more about trying to re-frame his success as "perception management."

South African politician and among the youth leaders of the MK Party, Bonginkosi Khanyile made comments in 2024 about how black South Africans cannot have a hero like Siya Kolisi and those comments were absolutely unfair.

I like Bonginkosi, but his comments were intended to make Siya seem like a race-traitor, and that was pure nonsense. Not at all fair to a guy that's at the very least has been very open about representing where he's from.

Siya Kolisi is in a very privileged position as the long-time Springbok captain, but at the same time, that position also takes certain freedoms away from him, and it's unfair to cast him as devoid of agency.

Siya Kolisi can't do what I do. He can't feel/think something about a topic or issue and then just riff on it with a blog or tweet and just go 1000% balls to the wall and just say what he thinks.

However, that's not unique to Siya. People in government, big business, executive leadership, or any kind of position of responsibility or seniority often don't have that luxury either.

Yes, there is a lot of watching what he says, but it's not the criticism you're making it out to be when you consider the working realities of most adult people in South Africa.

On the March 19th episode of Konvo, which is amongst the biggest podcasts in the country, Penuel and his host note how Siya could not possibly engage in any political topic and still be looked at in the same light, and a lot of that has to do with Rugby's number 1 demographic.

Again, that's not a fair criticism, even if it's true, because it wouldn't be a fault on Siya's part, and it would be more of an indictment on the existing attitudes in the environment he has to exist in, than anything else.

The bigger question is for Africans, and in particular black South Africans. On one end is the question, "Is black excellence real and do we believe in black excellence?" and if so, why do we make it so hard for black excellence to exist?

Here's the issue, if you want to see black South Africans successful, then you're not always going to get to choose who gets there and how, because black South Africans don't control access and gatekeepers, more often than not, are not people from our community or with whom black South Africans share a background.

Then there's the realistic end of the spectrum and how the media often uses black success stories like Siya Kolisi as a rags-to-riches story that distracts from the whole. Siya's success can easily be made to frame a narrative that distorts the truth of wealth inequality and access to opportunities for the historically disadvantaged.

It is definitely part of the narrative, but again, it's more about South Africa's economics and the history of how this economy was built with inequality as a foundational policy.

As of late, white Afrikaaner South Africans have been at the center of a lot of discontentment, and while all citizens of this country have a right to free speech, it doesn't mean that such speech is always fair, particularly in the case of Siya Kolisi.

When Dricus Du Plessis decided to endorse Trump in Australia, he highlighted not only the political sentiments of white South Africans, but also the sentiments of the rugby-watching audience, and once again Siya was inadvertently dealing with matters of politics and optics, much like what happened when he was named captain.

It's one thing to leave your politics at the door, but what happens when white South Africa insists on continually bringing their politics to the national discussion?

This is very real for Siya but no more than it's real for almost every black working professional.

This is also not a call for Siya to change anything. I don't at all want to see him engaging any political discourse because he doesn't need to. If anything, it's a testament to the mental strength and professionalism that Siya and rugby players of color have to be able to exist in a space that historically wasn't always welcoming to black players.

The point is, understanding the dynamics of a white-dominated professional spaces from the perspective of a black South African, doesn't mean that you know the man himself, and I am often shocked at how little my fellow South Africans are willing to extend that grace even when they understand the dynamics clearly.

Just a thought.

#sports #south africa #rugby #siya kolisi #springboks #politics

The little boy from the Zwide Township in the eastern cape is a TWO TIME rugby World Cup winning captain😭❤️

HE IS THE DEFINITION OF HOPE.

Our captain, Siya Kolisi ❤️🇿🇦🏆💚💛

#South Africa #rugby #springboks #rugby world cup #siya kolisi