NO DNA, JUST RSA: THE YEAR IT WAS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN SPORTS

Written by: Kamogelo Mogale

BAFANA BAFANA

Bafana Bafana claimed a bronze medal, defeating Democratic Republic of Congo 6-5 on penalties at the Stade Felix Houphouët-Boigny stadium, at the Africa Cup of Nations in Coté d’Ivoire back in January. This was Bafana’s 11th appearance at the continental showpiece since winning it back in 1996.

Bafana Bafana started their AFCON campaign on a bad note, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Mali in the opening round. The 1996 champions managed to come back from their setback against Mali and won 4-0 against COSAFA region rivals Namibia and then a goalless draw against Tunisia to finish second place in group E on 4 points to secure themselves a spot in the round of 16. Hugo Broos’ charges were tested as they faced top ranked national team Morocco and managed to claim a 2-0 victory to book themselves a spot in the quarterfinals. Bafana had a score to settle against Cape Verde Islands, whom they suffered a home and away defeat to during the 2017 AFCON which saw them not qualifying for the tournament.

SPRINGBOKS

The Springboks won the rugby championship after defeating Argentina 48-7 at the Mbombela stadium back in September. The four times world champions had a commanding performance, leading the Pumas 27-7 in the first half.

The victory saw the Boks win the rugby championship for the first time in five years. Star sensation Aphelele Fassi and Pieter-Steph du Toit were the outstanding players as they each scored two tries with Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kobe and Jesse Kriel each scoring a try to seal the deal for the Springboks.

The win was never in doubt after the Springboks – celebrating a new Test record for Eben Etzebeth (128 caps) – had a sublime start that had the sold out crowd of 43 578 in raptures and hardly gave them time to either sit down or catch a breath in a spellbinding first 15 minutes.

OLYMPICS

South Africa were ranked 44th at the 2024 Paris Olympics after claiming 6 medals [1 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze]. It was the nation’s ninth consecutive appearance at the Games in the post-apartheid era and twenty first overall in Summer Olympic history.

The South African men’s 4x100m relay team created history for the country as quartet Bayanda Walaza, Bradley Nkoana, Shaun Maswanganyi and Akani Simbine stormed to a silver medal, setting an African record with a blazing time of 37.57 seconds. This incredible achievement also marked South Africa’s first-ever Olympic medal in this event, a historic moment for our country.

Tatjana Smith became the mostly decorated South African athlete as she claimed gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke and a silver in the women’s 200m breaststroke. Smith once again proved that South Africa did not have to export its talent to the United States to be developed. She followed in the footsteps of  Chad Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh, who made it to the pinnacle of the sport as home-trained swimmers.

PROTEAS

Proteas once again crashed out at the final hurdle, suffering a 7 run defeat to India in the men’s T20 world cup final at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. The Men in Blue went onto the crease first and setup a target of 177 runs which the Proteas failed to reach as they limited to a total of 169 runs with a loss of 8 wickets.

Meanwhile, the Proteas wrapped up the year in style as defeated Pakistan by 2 wickets in their first of two tests to book themselves a spot in next year’s world test championship. The Shaheens were bowled out on 237 runs in their second innings, setting up a target of 148 runs for the Proteas, which they gladly reached the target, scoring 150 runs with a loss of 8 wickets to seal the victory. Aiden Makram was named player of the match for scoring 89 and 37 runs in the first and second innings respectively. The second is due to take place at the Newlands Cricket Ground from the 3rd of January 2025.

SPAR PROTEAS

Newly appointed coach Jenny van Dyk, together with her assistant Zanele Mdodana, took charge of their first camp where they defeated Malawi in a 3-0 series victory in the Spar Challenge at the Ellis Park Arena last month. An impressive performance at goal attack, as Kamogelo Maseko was named as the Player of the Tournament. The 22-year-old said that she was pleased with her own performances and that there had been plenty of learnings as a team.

We continue supporting our national teams in the coming year as both Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana will partake in the AFCON and WAFCON respectively in a quest for continental glory, Proteas to take part in the world test championship, Spar Proteas will square off against Jamaica in the Margaret Beckford Sunshine series while the Springboks will continue preparations for the 2027 rugby world cup.