Shanthini Naidoo

Yesterday my daughter, who is studying in the United States, attended the Springboks versus All Blacks match in Baltimore. She spent five years of her life in that city before moving to Cleveland. At the stadium she bumped into an old school mate from Dainfern College who now lives in Florida. Two South Africans, far from home, finding each other in a crowd of more than 68,000. It was already an emotional moment. What neither of them expected was how deeply they would be moved by our national anthem. Standing there, thousands of kilometres from home, singing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Pride in our roots. Pride in our diversity. Pride in excellence. And faith - watching the circle and the kneeling that followed the final whistle. That image stayed with me. There is a well known observation in India, popularised by Gurcharan Das, that “India grows at night while the government sleeps.” It captures a country whose people and enterprises often advance despite, rather than because of, the state. South Africa has that same untapped potential. We see it in the Springboks. World-class performance is not confined to the rugby field. It exists across our people, our businesses, our communities. We have what it takes. What we still need is simple, and it is hard: Create a genuinely business-friendly environment.
Confront crime with seriousness and consistency.
Appoint leaders in both the private and public sectors on merit. Those three interventions would allow this country to occupy the place it deserves among the winning nations of the world. We are a resilient people. Our character has been forged in difficulty. In a volatile world, that character is not a weakness. It is an advantage. The Springboks keep showing us what is possible when talent, discipline, purpose and belief come together. The rest of the country can do the same. We have the people. We have the potential. Now we must get our act together and grow during the day as well. #Springboks #RugbysGreatestRivalry #BetOnSouthAfrica #Leadership #Merit #SouthAfrica #ProudlySA