It is a blistering hot afternoon at a stadium in Johannesburg in 2025 and the sports commentator mops his brow before launching into his words at a rattling machine-gun pace.
“Ngobeni steals the ball off Bandisu. Ngobeni surges up field, past Mavuso… Passes to Klate, Klate to Phangiso. Phangiso scores! The crowd erupts. The cup is theirs, they’ve worked for it all season.
No, this is not the South African Premier Soccer League—it is merely a distant dream nurtured by those bringing Aussie Rules football to the African continent.
Aussie Rules—a strange hybrid of rugby and Gaelic football—has been planted at the grassroots of South African sport, where a small bunch of enthusiasts hope it will flourish. It would be an achievement as the game—as Australian as ‘g’day’—rarely strays too far from its home in Melbourne, Victoria.
It all began when the Australian Football League (AFL) launched its ‘FootyWILD’ program in Africa in 2007. Four years later, there are 8,000 young South Africans playing the game, many as young as eight, plus 500 volunteers, coaches and umpires.
In a few short years, the home-grown stars are starting to shine. Bayanda Sobetwa is a 21-year-old from Khayelitsha near Cape Town, who has spent the past two seasons in Australia playing a level just below fully professional. Tsholbolko Moagi, also 21, from Johannesburg and Khaya Sikiti, 25, from Nyanga, spent the last season in Tasmania playing state league competition.
The organization is based in Potchefstroom at the country’s North West University—home to the North West Academy of Sport—which has hosted many international events from the Davis Cup to cricket. The well-equipped sports facility recognized Aussie Rules as one of its 11 sporting codes in 2002.
Operations manager for AFL South Africa, Joel Kelly, says the plan is to reach 30,000 players by 2013.
“We have had preliminary support from the private sector and the Australian government, who have been attracted to the unique role the AFL can play in the South African community and our position as a developing brand and game. Our focus, though, has been on building the base and strength of the asset in the early days to ensure we create a strong and sustainable platform for a variety of partners. As we continue to grow, we are confident we will deliver strong value for future partners,” he says.