A supercar has been defined as a vehicle that’s extremely fast or powerful and also commands a high price. The term first saw the light-of-day as part of an advert for the Bentley Speed Six on November 11, 1920, but only really caught on after being revived by British motoring journalist L.J.K Setright in the 1960s. He was writing a review on the Lamborghini Miura and claimed to have coined the phrase himself.
South African-built supercars have been few and far between. Traditionally, home-grown forays into this market have been limited to the making of headers, radiators, exhausts and chassis by Port Elizabeth-based Hi-Tech Automotive, on behalf of Noble, a British supercar manufacturer. These items would be shipped to the head office in Leicester England, to be fitted with engines and transmissions.
It’s no mean feat to have been selected by Noble for this auspicious task, considering that the M400—which made its debut in 2005—has been described by local salesman Neville Ritchie, as “the closest you’ll get to Formula One acceleration”. The extremely high tolerances that are required, along with Hi-Tech Automotive’s supreme craftsmanship, has seen them gain a prodigious reputation drawing delegates from Ferrari, who visited the plant to view their processes. In addition, Carroll Shelby—the originator of the Cobra—was so taken by the company’s quality workmanship, he demanded the replicas produced in the Port Elizabeth factory bore his name.
While South Africa is able to deliver world-class items, the moniker of “South African-made” was rarely attached to a vehicle deemed worthy of supercar status.
In 2009 however, all that changed with the advent of the Barnard. Housed in a secluded factory outside Bloemfontein, the South African-conceived, designed and built supercar can match the performance levels of the upper echelon of European performance vehicles. It boasts a top speed in excess of 300km/h, and sprints from standstill to 100km/h in less than four seconds. Providing the blueprint for the Barnard was the Porsche 962, and it is from this German marquis that the powerplant for the Barnard has been sourced. The twin-turbo V8 engine has undergone significant performance enhancing changes and delivers a staggering 460kW of power.
Despite these technological advances, the Barnard is still a purist’s car, in many respects, shunning the use of power steering, vacuum-assisted or ABS brakes, traction control as well as luxuries such as electric windows.
Borrowing from the advances made in Formula One, the Barnard’s shell is a monocoque chassis made from hi-tech steels such as Domex and Docol—both light and strong materials that can easily be shaped as the manufacturer wishes. The rear of the car is a sophisticated tubular steel cradle which houses the engine, gearbox and rear suspension. The Barnard’s front suspension is mated directly to the car’s rigid structure. Each vehicle is built according to the individual purchaser’s requirements—something one might expect considering these cars command a hefty price tag of approximately R1.1 million ($136,000).
The brainchild behind the eponymously-named vehicle is Chris Barnard. His deep roots in endurance racing were the driving force behind the production of a Le Mans-style race car. “This is a car which has been built with the objective of breaking barriers,” Barnard says. “No expense has been spared to make what I believe is the most single-minded performance machine yet from South Africa.”
More recently, a vehicle going by the name of the Perana Z-One, has come under the spotlight. The South African-built hypercar—assembled again at the Hi-Tech Automotive plant—has been limited to 999 units, and is a two-seater, Italian-designed vehicle that boasts 0-100km/h sprint times around the four second mark. Power is generated from a front/mid-mounted Chevrolet Corvette LS3 6.2-litre V8 engine that produces a whopping 328kW and 583Nm of torque. The Perana’s chassis is made from tubular and box-sectioned fibreglass and has seams so well machined it looks like the car was skinned in aluminium. The man responsible for this immaculate bodywork is chief stylist, Nori Harada.
Power is delivered to the rear wheels by the same six-speed transmission found in a Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang. Of course this hurtling rocket needs to be brought to a standstill and stopping power is provided courtesy of remarkable Brembo callipers. The vehicle’s shocks and springs are supplied by Bilstein and Eibach respectively.
The Perana marks the first collaboration between a Milanese coachbuilder and South African car manufacturer, Zagato, who have a 90-year long history in building fully-functional running concept cars. Amazingly, the car can be built in an unheard of four months’ time.
The Perana has a 50/50 weight distribution, which allows for a balanced and predictable drive. The steering has been described as sharp and gives the driver immediate and accurate feedback of the road conditions. The Perana is nimble and weighs in at an ascetic 1,195kg. Power is delivered to a six-speed manual gearbox with limited slip differential. The price for this sublime vehicle is around the R1 million mark ($124,000), but sadly the cars will be available only to the European market.
So what can we expect from local supercar manufacturers in the future? In recent years, South Africa has been one of the best performing motor vehicle markets globally. South Africa exports cars to some 70 countries internationally and represents all of the major car makers and eight of the top ten vehicle component companies. The Motor Industry Development Programme has helped boost exports and its successive programme, which will come into play in 2012, will reportedly result in more jobs and long-term sustainability for the industry. It seems the local motor vehicle industry is set to go from strength to strength. If the advent of these hypercars and the Joule—South Africa’s first, and much heralded, electric car—is anything to go by, locally-manufactured supercars might very soon be gracing a road near you.

The Heart Of African Supercars

More than 30 African players are shooting baskets in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States and many more will soon be on their way.
Leading the hunt for talent is the towering figure of Amadou Gallo Fall, NBA Africa vice president for development in Africa, who is scouring the continent for the next Michael Jordan.
<div id="attachment_300" style="width: 216px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300" class="size-medium wp-image-300" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CTX7365-206x300.jpg" alt="" width="206" height="300" />Amadou Gallo Fall</div>
Fall has walked the winding road from Africa to the riches of the NBA. Born in Senegal, he was discovered by a Peace Corps worker and won a basketball scholarship to the United States. He played for the University of the District of Colombia in a 17-year career and also scouted for the Dallas Mavericks, who are the current NBA champions.
Six months ago, Fall set out for South Sudan, Africa’s newest country.
“We have a long-standing history with the country. The first NBA player from Africa to have had an impact on our league, who had a successful career and was well respected, was Manute Bol,” says Fall.
Bol was born in Turalei in South Sudan, where he grew up herding cattle. One of his most famed stories was how he once killed a lion with a spear to protect the herd.
Bol was literally someone to look up to as he stood 7ft 6ins tall and wore size 16 sneakers. He emigrated to the United States in 1982 and joined the Washington Bullets in 1985. He became not only the tallest player in the NBA, but the best shot blocker in the game. In retirement, Bol used to return often to South Sudan in a bid to heal the country after its civil war. Sadly, he died in Charlottesville, Virginia, in June 2010, aged 47, less than a year before his country assumed its statehood. He died of kidney disease caused by the complication of a rare skin complaint.
The Bol legacy survives in South Sudan, as does the basketball court where he shot his first ever basket, but there are precious few places where the young can embark on their hoop dreams.
Despite the lack of basketball courts, Fall believes the land is awash with fresh talent.
“The interest in the sport is definitely there and there is a fan base. We also need to develop the local expertise,” he says.
The question is: could the next Michael Jordan—or Manute Bol—spring from Juba?
“We want kids in Juba to aspire to reach for the highest level based on their potential. If we remain consistent in our engagement in South Sudan, develop infrastructure and build capacity by training coaches, there is no doubt that elite players will emerge but we are excited about the opportunity to use the game to impact on communities at large,” says Fall.
There is the NBA Cares program, which, since 2005, has spent over $150 million building more than 500 places where youngsters can play. Thirty-five of these are in Africa.
In Africa, it runs basketball clinics for youngsters between the ages of seven and 19.
<div id="attachment_299" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-299" class="wp-image-299 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/52952546.jpg.-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />The long and short of it; Manute Bol #10 of the Washington Bullets waits for the action to begin during the NBA game at the Capital Centre circa 1988 in Baltimore, Maryland</div>
In the hunt for talent, Basketball Without Borders, held in Johannesburg this year, remains its flagship grassroots event on the continent. It brings together young basketball players from across Africa. One of the many programs set up since the NBA opened an office in Johannesburg in May 2010, with the hope of riding the sports wave created by the FIFA World Cup.
“Within the first 12 months, we signed a unique partnership with the Royal Bafokeng Nation that is making a real impact in the region in terms of the number of coaches and players whom we have actively helped. This is a good example of how we are impacting the game on a very local level, working with the community, building courts and providing playing opportunities,” Fall says.
South Africa is seen as a happy hunting ground for the NBA and Fall has big plans. He sees an opportunity to host NBA games here in future and talks of plans to set up a university league.
Television would be part of these plans and it appears the small screen is already helping spread the game of basketball in Africa.
NBA games, featuring 10 players from Africa, were broadcast to 55 African countries and territories, in five languages, during the 2010-11 season.
“In Africa there is tremendous potential for growth, but investment in the sport is crucial in order to tackle the accessibility issue and the scarcity of local coaching expertise. Given the huge athletic potential, there is no doubt that as the game grows, the business will grow too.
With the NBA having so many players from the continent it is a clear indication that talent exists in abundance,” says Fall.
Whilst South Sudan appears to be an incubator for talent, according to Fall, he is careful to also nod to Nigeria, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We definitely think South Sudan is up there too,” he smiles.
Bul Bior, from South Sudan, was at the basketball get-together in Johannesburg this year. With hard work and a little luck, maybe he could be the next Michael Jordan or Manute Bol.

Could The Next Michael Jordan Jump From Juba?

Angola’s female basketball warriors are pretty pleased with themselves right now in a country mad about the sport. They came back from a thrashing from favourites, Senegal, to take gold at the 2011 Afrobasket Women in Mali; they were feted by President José Eduardo dos Santos and the Minister of Sport, Goncalves Muandumba, on their triumphant return to Luanda and now they have a shot, alongside the men, for a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.
The progress of the Palancas Negras—which translates as ‘black sables’—is being seen as a breakthrough for women’s basketball. Behind this success is the former captain of the Angolan male basketball team, Moreira, who has coached the team for six years.
In the basketball courts of Luanda’s number one sport complex, Citadela, a youthful looking, casually dressed and relaxed Moreira gave FORBES AFRICA the inside track on this heroic chapter in Angolan basketball.
<h3>How do you explain Palancas Negras’ victory at Afrobasket Women in Bamako?</h3>
This year’s result is the fruit of continuous hard work and improvement. The Palancas Negras have already had a foot on the podium since 2007. We gained bronze at Afrobasket Women both in 2007 and in 2009. We lost against Mali twice in the finals. But now we’ve managed to beat them, which made the victory twice as beautiful.
<h3>What does this victory mean for Angola?</h3>
Male basketball was already ‘hot’ in Angola. Now that the men have lost their ticket to the Olympics, the women will definitely be in the spotlight. This victory is of key importance for Angolan female basketball, which has very little support and lacks professional organization. Angola only has four female teams—Primeiro do Agosto, Maculusso, Interclub and Juventud de Viana—of which only two are represented in the national team.
<h3>What role did leading player Nassecela Mauricio, who was elected Most Valuable Player of this year’s Afrobasket tournament, play in the female team’s victory?</h3>
She really gave it her all. She’s a fighter, and she definitely deserves this victory. But I don’t like speaking about any player in particular because the entire team played very well.
<h3>What do you and your team strive for at the Olympics, and what are the greatest challenges?</h3>
We’ll do all we can to reduce the quality gap with the other Olympic teams. Whether we manage to do so will partly depend on the team’s make-up. Height, weight, physical condition and defence are all challenges. Our tallest player is 1.92m. But we’re fast and aggressive, we always seek the best positions, and we will train hard on our three pointers. In order to gain experience, we will try to train abroad as much as we can.
<h3>Isn’t African basketball often deemed a ‘nursery’ for young talented players, who exchange their African teams for European or American teams as soon as they get a chance?</h3>
Generally speaking that’s true, but I think that would be different if they had the same opportunities at home. Africa, except for maybe Tunisia and Egypt, lacks the right conditions for basketball. To professionalize, you need good financial resources. Angola has done that. Our country used to have many players in Portugal, including myself for 11 years. But when Angola started paying well, it managed to create its own great team.
<h3>What needs to be done to improve African basketball conditions?</h3>
Focus on the basics: create more playing fields and schools. Provide the minimum conditions. In the second phase, you can start thinking about remuneration and investments. The Angolan government plans to build a venue for basketball training purposes only, but so far it is only a concept.
<h3>What do you think of the Basketball without Borders camp that was recently held in South Africa?</h3>
It seems to serve a ‘double agenda’. The concept aims at promoting basketball as a common language for global peace, friendship and sportsmanship, but at the same time serves as a recruiting platform.
I think it is an extremely valuable initiative because of the friendships, cultural exchange and experience it creates. I do agree that it’s probably not beneficial for African countries. But what matters to me more is that it benefits the players. It allows them to play in much more competitive championships and to improve their very poor African working conditions.
<h3> How does it feel to be celebrated by the Angolan president?</h3>
We’re happy! This is an acknowledgement of our hard work.

Sizzling Sisters Slam Dunk Their Way To The Olympics

I recently recall conversations I had with purveyors of fine automotive flamboyance, beginning with the Daytona Group’s Clifford Joffe. Aston Martin’s closest iteration of a supercar, the DBS, is an amazing piece of work—all curves, lines, folds and sheer presence. It arrests the senses in all sorts of ways. Clearly the designer was not using a slide rule here. This was sheer madness. Works for me. Much has been said of Aston Martin being a small company without the patronage of a larger parent company but they still stay competitive against rivals in their segment with superlative brand cachet. It barks its presence with sheer authority. Prod the pedal and feel the haunches bristle with expectation. ‘Best of British’ sums up its credentials.
<div id="attachment_294" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-294" class="size-medium wp-image-294" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/aston-martin-300x147.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="147" />Aston Martin, DBS</div>
This is a scale above mere utilitarian spec commonly found in ordinary tackle, where one can actually see the millions it costs.
Africans in South Africa make up the majority of buyers of these cars but I never see many on the road or in Soweto for that matter, save for the odd Bentley.
Further up the scale in opulence is the Rolls-Royce. Many, the quantifier many being relative in this instance, have found homes across Southern Africa, from Angola to Zambia.
McLaren’s newly-launched MP4-12C is a mouthful really so we’ll just call it the Mac, or Macca, as the English like to say. But it is a technical tour de force, crowned with plaudit upon plaudit by the world’s hacks lucky enough to drive it. At this level, manufacturers do not skimp on emphasizing their heritage or the emotional equivalent. Invariably, you will learn lots about the race car inspired development program, the car’s previous incarnations, exotic materials for some componentry, cutting-edge telemetry, and so on. And to think all two years of its South African supply has been spoken for!
It would be an injustice to leave out the Teutons when it comes to the power stakes for those running the sweepstakes. The Big Three’s power wars of the last decade have not been in vain. What they could not do in sheer design would be made up for with huge dollops of power. It is no surprise that they snuck up on the exotics and unleashed autobahn-shrinking vanishing acts, leaving lengthy skid marks somewhere in their wake. In the process, they even went one up on the Lambo door-act, bringing home yet more of their racing heritage reaching back to the 50s Silver Arrows and Auto Unions.
Of course, their Latinate brethren further south in Europe could never be undone. They occupy an unassailable place in the heart and minds of any petrol-head worth their, er, gas. They are truly beyond comparison, borne of intense need for speed and a desire to compete. See one pass, and watch jaws drop with sheer wonderment. The more common ones you might run into tend to be either red or speed yellow, and pass with a ferocious whine, leaving you gasping for an answer to a question nobody asked. WTF? Must be a Ferrari.
Now, I know the sun rises from the east, but then I would be eaten alive if I dared detail the similarities between Lamborghini’s first engine and Honda’s Formula 1 V12 engine of the 60s. And yes, Honda’s dithering over the NSX’s successor, developed by the world’s best Formula 1 driver of our time, Ayrton Senna, is tearing apart the hearts of enthusiasts who know it inspired McLaren’s F1—the world’s best sports car ever to some.
Nissan’s GTR35 (pronounced as Godzilla to the non-Japanese amongst us) will eat supercars for breakfast, lunch and dinner, while Lexus’s ode to Mount Fuji will more than hold its own against many a westerner. Cult cars come from the East. But then, Western aesthetic defines how we define sports cars.
For Porsche, looks are for those who like to look. While it may lack the others’ pulchritudinous qualities, it is by and large considered the most practical sports car ever made. The newly launched 911—all 48 years of its shape—will not see any real revision before 2025! It is first and foremost a designer’s car, singularly committed to the realization of one truth and the quintessential sports car. Derision greeted some of the company’s recent offerings—the ungainly proportions of a utilitarian crossover in the Cayenne and the bloated midriff of the Panamera. There will be more gnashing of teeth from self-appointed custodian enthusiasts when the brand launches hybrid versions of its newer line up. But they will once again go on to make Porsche the world’s most profitable sport car manufacturer.
Come to think of it; Ferdinand Porsche was a designer. He displayed in Paris the world’s first hub-centric hybrid system—electric motors to drive the front wheels. In 1901. This is technology that is only about to be adopted by virtually every car maker today. As early as 1904, he was supplying and building four-wheel drive technology for cars. He went on to design the world’s first mid-engine race cars. Then he sought to defy the laws of physics by placing a car’s engine way past the rear axle—just because he wanted to create a more practical sports car. To accommodate rear seats in his first sports coupe, he turned the engine around so it hung over the rear axle. Although no longer called widow-makers and tail happy (the pendulum effect) as a result of much development, 911s still inspire awe in many an enthusiast. And so perhaps there is indeed truth in the conclusion that Porsches are more about development than design. That appears to pervade the Porsche mystic at the company’s Zuffenhausen headquarters. Thank God for Peter Schultz who defied the sceptics in the mid-80s when they wanted to drop the 911 from the line-up. And so Porsche South Africa managing director, Toby Venter will have you believe—all roads lead to Porsche.
In these days of austerity and layoffs, some of these cars will make for more compelling buys. And for factory bosses and bankers everywhere, they are what Clifford Joffe calls permission buys. Workers will not go on strike, and governments will not be reconsidering tax laws upon seeing some of them. These cars are beginning to grace the roads across Africa, opening up new vistas of discovery for car enthusiasts, collectors and poseurs alike.

Holy Grille

It was a Friday afternoon, June 4 2010, just a few days before one of the biggest days in African history. Flags were on the streets and the mood was festive in the countdown to the 2010 World Cup—the first time the greatest tournament on earth had kicked off on Africa’s red soil.
Mandla Sibeko strolled, in a mellow mood, towards Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, happy in the knowledge that by the opening ceremony on June 11 his job would be done—the end of years of struggle with the rigorous rules of the soccer governing body, FIFA. An angry phone call shattered this mellow mood and ushered in Sibeko’s worst day.
<div id="attachment_235" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-235" class="size-medium wp-image-235" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/282-18_1-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" />Mandla Sibeko thinking about his worst day</div>
Sibeko was used to struggle. He was born in Johannesburg, the youngest of six children, and grew up in poverty near Nelspruit in South Africa’s north-eastern Mpumalanga province; his first school lesson was held under a tree in the village of Kwaggafontein and the floors of the classrooms were made of cow dung, for want of concrete.
“Whenever I smell cattle dung, I think of those early school days,” says Sibeko.
Luckily for Sibeko, his mother was a domestic worker for a wealthy white family in Johannesburg and they offered to pay for his education.
“They have moved to Australia and I sent them an email the other day saying that decision changed my life. They wrote back to say they were proud to do so. It is amazing how one decision can change your life,” says Sibeko with a smile.
From the age of eight, Sibeko went to the elite St Martin’s School in Johannesburg, followed by a degree in law at Wits University. By the age of 24 he had set up his own business, making TV programs for the SABC. In  2007, he became the first person to open a Pick n Pay supermarket—once a preserve of the suburbs—in Soweto.
“In all these businesses I fell and got up many times. Soweto business is the hardest money you will ever earn, the customers are so demanding. I was working from 5am to midnight every day. We wanted to prove you could do business in the townships and we doubled our turnover in the first year.”
Sibeko became a shareholder in Identity and Tone Digital signage companies and then, while still in his late 20s, came the offer of a key job in the staging of the first ever World Cup in Africa. In 2008, British company Icon, which had helped to stage three World Cups, made Sibeko the CEO, along with a 40% stake, of their South African subsidiary. The job was to oversee the signage for the entire tournament. It was a huge job and Sibeko also saw it as a way to strike a blow for Africa.
“In my work I wanted to tackle this Afro pessimism—we dealt with people who doubted us. People were asking us: “do you really know what you are doing?”
The job entailed making sure all was correct on the flags, buses, hotels, signposts and banners at the country’s 10 World Cup stadiums.
“It was painful because you have to think for people. Everyone has an opinion, the Local Organizing Committee has an opinion, FIFA has an opinion; no one is right or wrong. Signage alone is a problem. Sometimes it arrives and is the wrong size and you have to send it back to Bloemfontien on a truck. Print quality can be poor, colors wrong and the position of the logo can be wrong. FIFA is very fussy—it’s their way or no way. They want it to be done better than the last World Cup.”
So Sibeko oversaw a rigorous system of checks. There was a long list of checks before the signs got to the printers; at the printers there was another check; then the signs were checked again before they were loaded onto trucks and yet again at their destination.
All this counted for nothing at 2pm on June 4 2010 when a top FIFA official screamed down the phone at Sibeko, just hours before an inspection team was due to tour Green Point Stadium.
“She was furious. There was no kindness about it, it was: ‘you guys have messed it up!’
The terrible truth was the misspelt word: “Welcme” hanging over the main entrance to the stadium. It wasn’t a welcoming sight for Sibeko.
“I don’t know what happened. It was 20 to 30 meters tall. This was a huge mistake. The A team of the World Cup was coming to inspect and what we had promised was not ready. We freaked out. I felt cold. We all expected this day. This was our do or die moment, we had worked for nearly four years and now we were going to mess it up because of a missing ‘o’.”
The crisis could have been costly. From this moment on, in the balance was a multimillion-dollar contract. Sibeko had to act fast.
“I called all the stadiums to check out if they had the same problem. It was difficult to find people quickly. At that point I was very anxious, I wanted to know whether we had made more mistakes along the way. I started to think about whether flags were facing the right way up when Sepp Blatter drives past. I froze, I didn’t know what to do. I am normally a very calm person, but on that day my staff said they had never seen me like that.”
The next step was to call a printer in Cape Town to make a new sign. It wasn’t easy as many World Cup service providers had lots of work, so it was easy for them to say no. Otherwise, Sibeko would have had to rope in a Johannesburg printer to get a new bulky banner flown down to Cape Town. For the first time in the day, lady luck smiled on Sibeko and a Cape Town printer agreed.
Then there was the problem of getting the huge banner up at the stadium before the inspectors arrived on the following day. It was already dark when the truck pulled up with the banner. So, by poor light, a team of 10 workers scaled ladders.
“They had problems because it was dark. They started at 8pm and
finished at midnight. We had another 10 people on the ground from my company and many of them were ready to walk because they were overstretched and felt they were not appreciated. Not everyone felt the importance of the biggest sporting event in the world. I said to them that I understood they were all under pressure. I talked about patriotism; this was their country, I told them, they had to keep going because they were doing this for their country. Maybe Mandela would have been proud of me!”
Crisis averted, thanks to elbow grease and a friendly Cape Town printer, but for Sibeko, his worst day put a damper on the greatest show on earth.
“That was the end of my torture, but then it became a difficult process because you had let down the client in the closing stages. When everyone was celebrating we were suffering. The opening I didn’t enjoy because I was wondering what else is going to go wrong. As much as the nation was celebrating, I was suffering, I was just wondering when it was all going to come to an end!”
Sibeko went to Brazil earlier this year to see how the country was preparing for the next World Cup.
“I just thought South Africans undervalue themselves. Brazil is so well marketed and yet it doesn’t deliver as much as South Africa does. I have to say we are too hard on ourselves. Stadiums are not going up at all and secondly, there was no sign of commitment from people, there was just a lot of talk. It will be interesting to see how fast they get up to speed.”
Mandla Sibeko offers his World Cup experience to the Brazilians. He hopes, by contrast to 2010, his experience will be as beautiful as the game itself. That would be welcme; sorry, welcome!

Welcme? To Err Is Human, To Leave Out An “O” Is A Disaster

When he was young, Evander Holyfield’s dream was to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Considered too small for a heavyweight, some gave him no chance against the big guys of the time. So Holyfield went about it the correct way.
<div id="attachment_215" style="width: 778px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-215" class="size-full wp-image-215" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/RTR1J8AF.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="1003" />Evander Holyfield</div>
First, he unified the Cruiserweight division by defeating the likes of Dwight Muhammad Qawi (WBA), Carlos De Leon (WBC) and Ossie Ocasio (IBF). That was when only the WBA, WBC and IBF world belts mattered. Nowadays, of course, we are talking about the alphabet soup; IBF, WBC, WBA, WBO, IBO, IBC, WBU, WBF and goodness knows what other titles are yet to emerge. The result is that in this day and age, it is pointless and meaningless for boxers to even think about being called undisputed world champions.
Holyfield then went about chasing his dream right from his first fight—a six-round victory over unknown journeyman, Lionel Byarm, at Madison Square Garden, New York in November 1984. He proved his worth as a heavyweight and earned his right to fight for the world heavyweight championship by defeating James Tillis, Pinklon Thomas, Michael Dokes, Adilson Rodrigues, Alex Stewart and Seamus McDonagh. He could and should have then faced the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight king of the time, Mike Tyson.
The only problem was James Buster Douglas knocked out Tyson in the 10th round in Tokyo to claim his title.
So it was Douglas that Holyfield faced and knocked out in the third round at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in October 1990 to be crowned the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
So then, what is Evander Holyfield talking about when he says he is still boxing because his goal is to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world? He is telling anybody and everybody who will listen, including me, that he continues to fight at the ripe age of 48 because he hasn’t reached his goal of being called “undisputed” champion. He says for as long as it takes to become the undisputed champion, he will continue to box. I gave up continuing this line of questioning when I realized I was not going to get anywhere.
Moving quickly along, next question: Do people ask him a lot about the infamous ear biting courtesy of Mike Tyson? This happened in June 1997 at the MGM Grand Las Vegas when Tyson, facing certain back-to-back defeat at the hands of Holyfield, took the easy way out when he got himself disqualified by biting off a piece of Evander’s ear, not once but twice. Holyfield’s answer to this question was a terse NO; no one asks him anymore about that fateful night these days, he says. Holyfield had to be rushed to hospital that night for doctors to attach a piece of his ear. Holyfield does say, though, he has forgiven Tyson and the two last met and spoke a year ago at a function.
Holyfield says he has no connections with Africa but has ambitions of fighting on the continent before finally hanging up his gloves. He thinks given resources and time, African boxing could be great.
In his twilight years, Holyfield has travelled the globe, fighting in Moscow in 2007, Switzerland in 2008, and Denmark in 2011. All his other fights, 57 in total, happened in the USA.
Without revealing much, Holyfield says he has enough business outside boxing and like most people, has lost money in the past in bad investments. He earns a lot from speeches and celebrity appearances.
Holyfield says sometimes he feels like boxing takes too much of his business time. But he loves who he is and still enjoys boxing, and wouldn’t swap careers for anything.
Another pugilist who appears to have had no problem leaving the ring and going into business is George Foreman, the man who lost his title to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” in Kinshasa in 1974. Foreman has since made a fortune selling grills.
Holyfield says whereas he is happy for Foreman, he will still remain Evander Holyfield and does not wish to trade places with Big George. Holyfield beat Foreman on points in April 1999 when he defended his three titles.
All said and done, the man they call the Real Deal, despite fighting way past his sell-by date, will always have his place in boxing’s hall of fame. The only man to have won the biggest prize in boxing, the world heavyweight championship an unprecedented four times, he remains humble and professional. He never enters the ring less than 100% fit and always gives more than 100%.
For one so fit, incredibly, Holyfield was struck down by a heart attack in his mid-30s. He was told by the doctors he would never fight again.
Miraculously, his heart healed completely and he has boxed on, undeterred, for more than a decade.
Fighting spirit has driven Holyfield on. He hopes that big money deal to fight in Africa will come one day, but even for the tenacious Real Deal, time is surely running out.

The Real Deal — I Will Box In Africa  Before The Final Bell

<div id="attachment_210" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-210" class="size-large wp-image-210" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/nicola-kzn-amateur-June-3-2011-054-1024x684.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="317" />Nicola Eaton</div>
She would rather be playing on the American Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour, or Ladies European Tour, or even a South African women’s golf tour—instead she’s selling houses.
Twenty-six-year-old Nicola Eaton is one of many professional golfers lamenting the fact that there is no women’s tour in South Africa.
“For so long women’s golf has taken a back seat and had very little support or sponsorship,” says Eaton.
By contrast, the South African men’s game is thriving; South Africans won two of the last six major titles; the Sunshine Tour was chosen for the World Golf Championship in 2012.
South Africa’s men’s Sunshine Tour is a vital stepping stone to the bigger tours and it includes three co-sanctioned events annually, with the European Tour providing non-European exemptions, giving local players the chance to play abroad.
On the other side of the coin, aspiring female professionals have to pay their way to America or Europe in an attempt to earn playing cards on those tours. The competition abroad is fierce and women who do not make the grade are forced to return home with little or nothing.
For Eaton and her twin sister, Melissa, this is the dead end to a rocky road that promised so much. They were members of the Ernie Els Foundation. After completing high school, they were awarded golfing scholarships in 2003 at the Louisiana State University in the United States and graduated four years later.
<div id="attachment_212" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-212" class="size-large wp-image-212" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/nicola-kzn-amateur-June-3-2011-052-1024x684.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="317" />Eaton plans to enter the Ladies European Tour</div>
After playing on the American Futures Tour—the secondary tour to the US LPGA tour— for two seasons, Eaton, lacking sponsorship, was forced to return to South Africa. Melissa was more fortunate; she found a sponsor and remained on the tour.
“After two years of struggling financially on the LPGA Futures Tour supporting myself, I decided I had no choice but to move back to SA and try to find sponsors,” Eaton explains.
Since returning, Eaton has had to supplement her income by giving golf lessons and selling houses as an estate agent.
Unfortunately, money in South African women’s golf is short, according to Rae Hast, the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA) president.
“We used to have four tournaments in 2009, but we’ve struggled with the economy and to find sponsors for future events.”
The Women’s World Cup of golf had previously been hosted in South Africa from 2005 to 2008, with the winners taking home $1.4 million in 2008. The hosting of the tournament did nothing to help grow the game in South Africa and the women’s tour was still forced to find its own financial backing, which never came.
“We are looking to secure one co-sanctioned event, and once we have that it becomes much easier to approach people for support,” adds Hast.
But for now, players like Eaton have very few options. She plans to enter the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School for 2012 and will need to raise R70,000 ($9400). With the November deadline looming, she has raised only R2,000 ($270).
“I know I speak predominantly for myself, but I also speak for my fellow girls on tour.
“I have so much talent and I know that if we got a little more support, we could change women’s golf in SA and represent our country on the LPGA Tour.”

Money For Nothing And Frustration For Free

It’s been a rotten year for Kenyan rugby—a year soured by defeat and disappointment. On the field, the national team all but gave away the Victoria Cup by losing to Zimbabwe at home and to Uganda away—the latter after leading for most of the game. There was a poor showing in the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens, where Kenya finished ninth. Off the pitch, there are more optimistic signs that Kenyans are getting to grips with the game and the money men are not too far behind.
Crowds are growing. In 2007, around 1,000 supporters were watching Kenya play rugby. In July, when Kenya took on Zimbabwe, 6,300 spectators were there. Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) officials said some of the huge interest was a result of sponsorship from an internet service provider—which allowed gate charges to be halved to around $1.
<div id="attachment_114" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114" class="size-large wp-image-114" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Kayange-003-683x1024.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="711" />Kayange</div>
There was so much interest that the match had to be moved to the 35,000 capacity Nyayo National Stadium to accommodate the crowd. The player base of around 1,000 players is also widening as more high schools take up the sport. The most prestigious schools trophy, the Prescott Cup, had for long been the preserve of eight elite schools in Nairobi. Now, the league has expanded to accommodate another eight schools in different parts of the country.
Most importantly, more sponsors are willing to offer money to the national team and Kenyan rugby clubs. Kenya Airways, the national carrier, sponsors the Sevens national team; Safaricom, Kenya’s leading mobile phone company, sponsors the Safari Sevens and there are other non-traditional rugby sponsors such as Cadbury and an entertainment group—Homeboyz.
Money is not enough, though. “We should get more of the sponsors to support the grassroots development of the sport,” says Humphrey Kayange, the 29-year-old captain of the national Sevens team. Kayange speaks from experience. He went for trials in South Africa two years ago and didn’t make it, but learned a lot about the country’s system of unearthing young talent.
“We need to get our development right if we are to make it to the next World Cup,” he says. “We need to get consistent wins and maybe play outside our traditional opponents.” The secret could be holding Kenya’s young teams together— something that appears to have worked in the rugby Sevens side. The core of the team, which reached the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in 2009, had been together for about three years. They included Kayange, Collins Injera, Lavin Asego, Innocent Simiyu and Sidney Ashioya. This policy also helped Kenya climb to 33 in the IRB rankings in 2010.
The money followed. Kenya Harlequins reaped one of the game’s most lucrative sponsorship deals, worth about $40,000. The club ploughed the sponsorship money into increasing the number of players to around 90—the largest pool of any rugby club in Kenya. Undoubtedly, the game is in the hands of those who love it, interest is growing and money is flowing in. Maybe for Kenyans watching Kenyan internationals on TV, fighting for the World Cup in 2015 may not be such a pipe dream, after all.
<div id="attachment_115" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115" class="size-large wp-image-115" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Kayange-017-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="316" />Humphrey Kayange</div>

Cash Attraction

Money, money everywhere—what a contrast to the first time an African nation won the trophy 16 years ago in the twilight of the amateur game.
<div id="attachment_111" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-111" class="size-large wp-image-111" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Morne-657x1024.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="739" />February 1980. South African rugby legend and Springbok rugby captain Morne du Plessis.</div>
On 24 June 1995, a collection of South African schoolteachers, estate agents and business professionals achieved something very rare; they won the Rugby World Cup on home soil at the first time of asking. What a different game it was just over 16 years ago. At the time, toplevel rugby in the world was run as an amateur sport with players being paid under the table through so-called ‘shamateurism’. On the field, the forwards were a heavy-footed collection of giants and portly gentlemen, who pummeled each other in the scrums and loose, while the backs were a group of lithe speedsters who claimed all the glory. Modestly built men such as Wilf Rosenberg and Hugh Bladen were masters of the sidestep and looked it up the middle’, in the manner of England’s Mike Tindall, France’s
Mathieu Bastareaud or the imposing All Black No 12—Ma’a Nonu. That golden tournament in 1995 will be remembered for Mandela in a Springbok jersey, a last-gasp winning kick from Joel Stransky and a juggernaut of a man called Jonah Lomu.
Here was a 20-year-old man from New Zealand. He was 1.96 meters and around 120 kilograms and yet played on the wing, where he struck fear into the hearts of those who dared get in his way. One Springbok said the mere sight of Lomu striding from the team bus listening to music through oversized headphones put the fear of God into him. Lomu arguably won the semi-final for the All Blacks by shellacking England, in the process bulldozing their tough fullback, Mike Catt, to score four tries in a 45-29 victory. The sport had rarely seen such an athlete and Lomu’s explosive impact pushed the game towards professionalism within a year.
Cut to 2011: the Springboks are in New Zealand to defend the Webb Ellis trophy and a small player in the backline is a rarity. There are now more like four or five ‘Jonahs’ on a team. Players spend five days a week, eight hours a day, working at their game. Highly paid fitness experts, sports psychologists and doctors all play a huge part in preparing players for peak performance and for this there is one requirement—money. Compared to 1995, the present day South African Rugby Union (SARU) is awash with money. According to its financial report for 2010, SARU had R102 million ($14.6 million) in cash reserves, with R82 million ($11.7 million) of these cash reserves attributable to deferred broadcasting and sponsorship revenue.
Television has put many times more money into the coffers of rugby and its players than gate receipts ever could. On top of that, the South African team has three hefty sponsors: Absa, Canterbury and BMW are all pouring millions into the game. Former Springbok captain Morne
Du Plessis, who played from 1971 to 1980 and was also the manager of thevictorious ’95 South African team, believes that although players these days are well paid, the salaries are nowhere near those of professional footballers. “It’s a different game now. It’s a profession. It’s from 08h00 to 17h00— even more. We were amateurs, we practised twice a week,” says Du Plessis. “If you look at footage from my day, it looks like a different sport now. The skills today and the strength is something to behold, the guys today are just so powerful. Professionalism and money in the sport has made it a better sport.”
<div id="attachment_110" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-110" class="size-large wp-image-110" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Trophy-689x1024.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="704" />24 Jun 1995: South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar receives the William Webb Wellis Trophy from President Nelson Mandela after they defeated New Zealand to win the Rugby World Cup Final at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa. Mandatory Credit: Dave Rogers /Allsport</div>
Looking to the World Cup, Du Plessis, who led the Springboks, is optimistic about the defending champions’ chances. “Don’t take anything that happened in the Tri-Nations as a marker for the World Cup. There are probably three important matches at the World Cup—the quarter final, the semi-final and the final. To be ready on those days will be key. I think we will go in as underdogs but I believe it’s the best position we play from. “I think we can do it. We’ll be up against the Australians and the All Blacks, the Irish team is to be reckoned with and England is also a good team. There are no real favorites,” adds Du Plessis. The final will be on October 23. For South Africa it is the chance of retaining the trophy and winning it for a third time in the land that bore the mighty Jonah Lomu. Win or lose, the Springboks will return home with bigger bank balances than the heroes of ’95 could ever dream of.
<div id="attachment_109" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109" class="size-large wp-image-109" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Rugby-1024x809.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="374" />New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu is tackled by South African scrumhalf Joost Van der Westhuizen during the Rugby World Cup final played against New Zealand June 24. On left is South African centre Hennie le Roux, on right No 8 Mark Andrews</div>

How a terrifying rampaging giant changed the world

Our roads are peppered with potholes; hijackings are a way of life; wildlife sometimes seems to have a vendetta against moving vehicles; traffic jams can rival the migration in the Serengeti, and all this is when we have roads to begin with! And let’s not forget the plight of the minibus drivers; having to furiously shuttle their sardine tins full of people, who are sometimes laden like hermit crabs with their personal belongings.
What is to be done about the seemingly Sisyphean mountain of obstacles that befall us as regular road users, you ask? Extreme all-terrain vehicles are, in my humble opinion, the obvious answer to Africa’s daunting road conditions. Take for example the Russian-built Viking-2992 from Aton Impulse (brought to you by the people who built some frighteningly effective submarines, so why not surface-dwelling amphibious vehicles too?). This road-legal behemoth is capable of conquering not only the worst tarmac, but it’s just as comfortable in more aquatic climes.
Looking, for all the world, like a bullfrog on steroids, the Viking’s high-flotation boat frame allows it to traverse the water at speeds of up to 15km/h. Equally suited to that leisurely weekend trip across the Vaal dam in South Africa (imagine the stares from those overpriced boats packed with scantily clad women and cigar-chomping businessmen), or those unscheduled flash floods, the car boasts pneumatic front and rear suspension and balloon tyres—equipped to “minimize environmental impact and soil damage”. Exactly what we were concerned about. And, should the humanitarian bug ever bite, the Viking makes a superb search-and-rescue vehicle; coming in a 6&#215;6 wheel configuration that can transport 12 people. Enough to make any taxi driver flush with envy; especially considering the car’s got climate control and a rear-view camera for ease of parking.
Another contender, in our bid to conquer Africa’s unforgiving terrain, is the Mercedes-Benz Zetros. The towering Teuton comes in either a four-liter six-ton payload or seven-liter, ten-ton variety. This truck is perfectly suited to hosting those pesky, end-of-month shopping expeditions with parking posing no problem—that Hummer’s roof will do nicely, thank you. Hijackers will stare agog, contemplating how on earth to scale the sides so they can point their quivering gun at the safely ensconced driver. Twin axles mean the cabin and payload move independently (like a belly dancer working her way through college)—helpful when encountering potholes the size of Australia, as we do after a brief cloud burst. Water reaching up to a height of 1,100mm (with the additional modifications) holds little fear for this übertruck. Let’s see someone try to push in front of one of these at the next intersection.
When it comes to sure-footedness though, nothing beats the insanity of the Chainlink extreme 4&#215;4. Powered by a fuel-injected five-liter V8 engine sourced from a Ford Mustang, the unique feature of this vehicle is that its one-meter-high tires dangle off the end of hydraulically controlled swing arms that can work independently or as a team. This unsurpassed articulation (two meters in total travel) means the Chainlink virtually bounds over boulders, seemingly negating the need for roads at all. While disturbing to look at, and its gait is reminiscent of a drunkard at a twisting competition, the Chainlink gets the job done.
Ever wary of expenditure, we’ve managed to uncover a more cost-effective manner of taming the African wilderness. It comes in the form of the Desert Fox conversion. Designed to fit your existing Toyota Land Cruiser or Nissan Patrol (chosen specifically for their impervious nature and easy access of parts), the kit comprises of a fully galvanized platform that simply bolts on (housing eight molded seats protected by three rollover bars) and transforms the ‘bakkie’ into a light infantry patrol vehicle. In addition, the suspension undergoes some radical reworking thanks to new leaf and coil springs, gas-powered shock absorbers, a heavy-duty steering damper and anti-sway bar.
Criminals stand no chance against the Desert Fox’s optional armor plating, and it even comes with its own water supply (100 liters) and dual battery with charging system. Making this kit a must-have for those expeditions to war-torn territories is the optional gun turret. A handy feature, to keep the masses at bay; especially if you’ve opted to purchase another product from the same company—the mobile field kitchen. Simply throw this contraption onto the tow hitch, and you can almost literally make food for Africa; 300 people at a go, and up to 1,000 in total. The kitchen uses diesel to power its hot plates (switching over to solar when hot) and can pump out 24 loaves of bread in 20 minutes. That’ll satisfy the biggest appetite! No wonder military brass, from numerous countries, are showing interest—and it’s exactly what a hungry, take-no-crap, sick-to-death-of-traffic road user really needs.
If the Desert Fox has piqued your interest in military grade vehicles, take a gander at www.milweb.net—apparently they are “the world’s largest and busiest military marketplace for military vehicles”. Nothing says “get the hell out of my way” quite like a tank, which is why we’d simply have to opt for one if we inadvertently won the Lotto. While owning and driving a tank on public roads might be completely illegal, such technicalities haven’t stopped a host of drivers in our laissez faire continent, thanks to the pliability of our cash-strapped authorities. Ah, Africa—the cradle of mankind. We might not have invented corruption, but we’ve certainly come close to perfecting it. And yet, this is our land—diverse, unique, challenging and exciting. If you don’t like it—well, you know the rest&#8230;

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