What is the most quintessentially South African image you can think of right now? Madiba? Biltong? Francois Pienaar holding up the Rugby World Cup? Boerewors and pap? Castle lager? John Smit holding up the Rugby World Cup? Melktert? Bobotie? Francois Pienaar and Madiba holding up the Rugby World Cup? Francois Pienaar and Madiba holding up the Rugby World Cup while drinking Castle lager, eating boerewors and pap whilst reclining on thrones made of biltong?
Sadly, it’s 2020 and the most recent images of South Africa are hardly uplifting: President Cyril Ramaphosa fumbling with his face mask and a highly trained police unit arresting a SUPer at Pipe on Port Elizabeth. Sheer courage. So let’s try forget about most of this year, ‘coz tomorrow is Heritage Day in our beautiful, mad country and let’s rather remember its more recent triumphs. Think back to 2019 and our first black rugby captain Siya Kolisi holding up the Rugby World Cup. That’s a powerful image. As was Faf De Klerk in his SA undies.
Mentioning Siya Kolisi is significant. He is an icon of not only South African sport, but internationally as well. As is another young man by the name of Jordy Smith. If you don’t know who Jordy Smith is, it’s assumedly because you’ve either stumbled onto this website by accident or you’ve just emerged from a decades long coma. Jordan Michael Smith remains our mainstream poster boy for SA surfing. He’s been ranked number one on the WSL plenty of times, narrowly missing a championship title on more occasions than this author cares to remember. But, seeing as you should already know who he is, let’s talk Siya and Jordy surfing. The pair went out in less than perfect conditions in Cape Town, and man – was it cool. The mutual respect; not only for their individual sporting abilities – but also for their vastly different backgrounds and cultures. Something we could – and should – all learn from. So think about that tomorrow when you’re busy cremating the chops and slurring your way through your political opinion after your eighth Castle or glass of one of our finest wines.
Surfing may not have originated along our coastline, but regardless the sport in our country has a heritage to be proud of. South Africa is respected, perhaps even revered as a surfing destination – not to mention how consistently this country produces excellent surfers. Not perhaps quite like the assembly lines of surfers produced by Australia and the current crop of Brazilians, but we’re a different breed. If those countries’ good surfers are mass produced, South Africa’s surfer production is more along the lines of craftsmanship. We produce good surfers on a smaller scale. Surf artisans if you will. We have a lot to be proud of. And that’s just talking surfing. Our average days waves wise in many spots would look epic in places like the UK, Brazil or even in the States. Yet – our crowds are way fewer. Yes, even the crowds in the really famous spots when they’re cooking, although it doesn’t feel like it when it’s Pro season time, and you watch Gabriel Medina’s air reverse after air reverse while sitting in the water for an hour and catching a lone close out. And someone dropped in on you.
Sure, there’s lots of bad. Tons in fact, and Trident isn’t here to triviliase any of it. But there’s good too. And hope. (Just not much hope for waves this week, see the Surf Report here.) Still, we South African surfers are a special breed, and we have a lot to be proud of. So even though we won’t have too much happening surf wise tomorrow, Heritage Day for surfers should still be celebrated in the waves, as surfing in this country is as South African as koeksisters and vetkoek. Just way cooler.
