The good, the bad and the Boks:
Our final story of the year begins in Albany on Auckland’s North Shore in New Zealand long ago, where the Springboks have just been beaten 57-0 by the All Blacks. With the 2019 World Cup two years away, the result marks the beginning of the end for Bok coach Allister Coetzee, a man who was given a job but was never given his employers’ blessing.
Coetzee’s job goes to Rassie Erasmus, who up and leaves his job at Munster in Ireland with precipitous haste. One of Erasmus’ more astute decisions is to dispense with Coetzee’s chosen flyhalf Elton Jantjies.
He plumps, instead, for Handré Pollard. The former Paarl Gimnasium schoolboy is cooler than a pink drink on a hot day.
Pollard, who has inspired comparisons with the great Naas Botha, plays in the 2019 World Cup final against England in Yokohama. When Coetzee was coach, playing in the final looked as remote as Reykjavik, but Erasmus is as big a revelation as Pollard himself. The 2019 final is won and Erasmus’ successor, Jacques Nienaber, essentially takes the same side — now older, more battered and wiser — to this year’s World Cup in France.
Pollard isn’t part of the initial group because of a calf injury, but Malcolm Marx, a hooker, gets badly injured and Pollard sneaks in through the back door. So begins one of the great debates in South African sport: should Manie Libbok, who has played with a kind of heady insouciance in the early matches (think of his “no-look” kick to Kurt-Lee Arendse against Scotland) be persisted with? Or should Pollard waltz into the starting line-up given that Libbok’s place-kicking is erratic.
In the end, the Bok management does the right thing. Given that Libbok is the incumbent, it persists with him and puts Pollard on the bench as back-up. The decision seems sensible enough but in the white-hot heat of battle it begins to be seriously stress-tested.
South Africa are nowhere against England in the 2023 semi-final. They’re dreadful under the high-ball and can’t even catch the damn thing. Up in the stands Nienaber is paralysed. Erasmus seems bereft of ideas. Back home watching in South Africa you can actually feel the dream slip away.
Enter Felix Jones, the cerebral Irishman Erasmus has brought with him from Munster. A man alone on a frozen bench, Jones acts. He demands that Libbok, who is not at his best, be replaced by Pollard. It is the 31st minute of what is fast becoming a nightmare; four minutes later Pollard succeeds with his first penalty. The Boks go into the dressing-room at half-time 12-6 down.
In the 43rd minute Cobus Reinach is replaced by Faf de Klerk at scrumhalf. Faf and Handré go together like Fikile Mbalula and hyperbole, bunny chow and atchar, shisa nyama and ginger beer. With Faf and Handré together, the Boks have a chance, although the chance recedes again when Owen Farrell, who is playing immaculately at flyhalf for England, pots a massive drop-kick in the 53rd minute to give England a 15-6 lead.
The second half drags on but sequences of play are also over before you realise they’ve happened. It’s too painful to look but you must, otherwise you can’t see what’s happening. What to do? Look? Or look with your hands over your eyes? An entire nation can’t watch what is about to become the most incredible passage of play since Lukhanyo Am’s “blind” pass to Makazole Mapimpi in the 2019 World Cup final.
With Jones acting, Nienaber regains some of his poise. He brings on a raft of second-half changes, although the score is still locked at 15-6 to England. One of them is Deon Fourie, a utility forward who, late in his career, is experiencing an Indian summer.
With 13 minutes to go and even Pollard beginning to get jittery with angst, the Springboks win a penalty; Pollard kicks it deep for a South African throw into the line-out; Bongi Mbonambi finds RG Snyman and the Bok forwards maul it up; Fourie busts off the back of the maul like a hyperactive meerkat with the ball tucked under his arm. He’s scragged metres from the England line. The ball is recycled on the Bok side and Snyman corkscrews over, bouncing Jonny May off his chest like a rag doll in the process.
Pollard leaves the best for last. With two minutes to go in the match and the Springboks trailing 13-15, the referee awards the men in green and gold a penalty after a dominant Bok scrum. We are told that the kick is 49 metres from the posts but Pollard, so self-assured, thumps the kick with such confidence that he could be kicking from right in front. Prize-winning novels will be written about the kick in future years.
The Boks repeat the trick in the final against New Zealand, with Pollard again playing a starring role. The World Cup victory brings some much-needed respite to a country in the throes of daily load-shedding. Folk talk about nothing else for weeks; they relive the World Cup in the heady present tense. Everywhere you look you can see the light in people’s eyes.
A couple of weeks later and the Proteas play in the 50-over World Cup in India, beating England, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka on their way to second place after the round-robin phase of the tournament.
Quinton de Kock — known as “Quinnie” to his legion of fans — has announced beforehand that these are his last 50-over matches for his country. He scores four centuries in the tournament but goes cheaply to a tumbling catch by Australian skipper, Pat Cummins, in the semi-final. Sport, you think to yourself at the time, is not simply cruel, it is diabolical.
David Miller plays a lone hand in scoring a defiant 100 against the Aussies in the semi-final, but South Africa are 40 or 50 runs short of a commanding total. They bowl with skill and courage; they catch well. It isn’t enough. They have batted poorly after their skipper has won the toss and chosen to bat. It might be a mistake. Nobody knows, although they pretend they do.
In the final, Australia beat favourites India in their backyard. It is like stealing into the presidential palace in the dead of night, drinking the wine, fornicating with the servants and, for good measure, stealing the cutlery. All of cricket-loving India is aghast.
In the winter, back in New Zealand, where our story started, Banyana Banyana have gone to their second World Cup under Desiree Ellis.
Ellis has come a long way. As a player for the national women’s team she was told to wear cast-off shirts from the men’s team. She once played in an international against Zimbabwe in which the entire team changed in a parking lot.
Now it’s different. Although it’s cold in New Zealand, Banyana blow hot. In atrocious conditions they lose by a goal to Sweden in their opening game before holding Argentina 2-all in their second. They leave the best for last. Against Italy, Thembi Kgatlana scores in injury time to win the game 3-2 for Banyana and catapult them into the second round.
At the beginning of the tournament the players are embroiled in a spat with the South African Football Association and at one point it looks as if they might not board the World Cup plane. A last-minute solution is reached and although Banyana are beaten 2-0 by the Netherlands in the second round, the result is a fillip for women’s football.
If only, mutter many, such a result was in the compass of the perennially under-achieving men.
The post The good, the bad and the Boks appeared first on The Mail & Guardian.
South Africans love their streaming. Global and local video-on-demand platforms Multichoice’s Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ have offered audiences their dose of banging pleasure for a few years now.
PwC’s Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023 report highlights that Africa has a young, and growing, tech-savvy population who are driving growth and access on streaming platforms.
It is therefore no wonder that most local films made in recent years have been led by youthful casts and have young adult themes. This year is no different, with exciting films and series for family and friends to indulge in these festive holidays.
Yoh! Christmas
This six-part romantic comedy is about friendship, social pressures around marriage and the struggle to find love.
It features rising star Katlego Lebogang, alongside industry veterans Sthandiwe Kgoroge, Tumisho Masha and Hlomla Dandala.
The binging jury is still out on whether this tired single-and-ready-to-mingle storyline is a worthy replacement for the much-loved How to Ruin Christmas.
Classified
A collaborative effort between South African independent production company Diprente and US animation giant Skybound Entertainment, eight-episode Classified is a coming-of-age comedy-drama with an espionage element.
Fifteen-year-old, Ella’s (Imani Pullum) life is turned upside down when she’s sent to live with her estranged father (Sule Rimi), younger brother and stepmother in South Africa after being ensnared in a violent protest in the US.
Her attendance at an elite international school harbours agendas and secrets when she discovers her stepmother Dianne (Christine Horn) is part of the CIA.
During the promotion of the series, co-director and executive producer Kagiso Lediga said: “This project allowed us to explore the complex world of espionage through the eyes of a teenage protagonist, offering a fresh perspective on the genre.”
Adorned by a stunning wardrobe, showcasing African fabrics and jewellery, Classified is about self-discovery with an enthralling edge to it.
It is streaming on Netflix.
The Queenstown Kings
Talented young soccer player Fezile (Likhona Mgali), from rural Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, must face the return of his washed-up pro-footballer father, Buyile (Zolisa Xaluva), while navigating the choice between his team’s success and his dreams.
The Queenstown Kings offers a familiar sport film formula, blending elements of football, family dynamics and the challenges of pursuing dreams in a township setting.
With its lukewarm, fairly predictable storyline this recent addition to Netflix also highlights themes of alcoholism, the struggle for recognition and parental challenges.
The tension between the distant father and his angry son conjures up the persistent issue of fatherlessness in many young township boys’ lives.
Although soccer is a much-loved sport in South Africa, I was unsettled by the lack of originality in this film.
Nonetheless, it is star-studded and has cameos by sports figures such as Robert Marawa, Jabu Pule and Doctor Khumalo.
In Your Dreams
This fantasy drama is South Africa’s first scripted, original series produced by Amazon Studios.
Right from the opening scene of the first episode with relic hunter and antiquities dealer Dineo (Didintle Khunou) jumping from a plane into the Drakensberg, viewers are taken on an action-packed adventure, well suited to Lara Croft fans.
Best friends Marcus (Jesse Suntele) and Lloyd (Kiroshan Naidoo) have been evicted from their apartment and are struggling to keep their pest-control business afloat.
Then an old classmate Dineo introduces them to an ancient, mystical African statue which just might be the answer to their prayers as the tribe who created it believes it has the power to make dreams come true.
The cast also includes Thando Thabethe, Sello Maake ka Ncube and Khabonina Qubeka.
Spinners
Trying to escape gang life in Cape Town, 17-year-old Ethan (Cantona James) discovers a way out through extreme motorsport — spinning.
Ethan is introduced to this world of spinning cars by his new friend Shane (Dillon Windvogel), however, a looming gang war jeopardises his hopes of a new life.
Brendon Daniels, whom I first encountered in 2013’s Four Corners, gives a brilliant performance as gang leader Damien’s (Elton Landrew) ruthless henchman, Hercules.
Spinners also has cast members such as Katlego Lebogang, Stephren Saayman, Chelsea Thomas and Melanie du Bois.
This pulsating, high-octane South African drama was the first African series to be selected at Canneseries and won three awards at the Dakar Series, including Best TV Series.
Spinners is streaming on Showmax until 27 December.
The post A feast of festive TV appeared first on The Mail & Guardian.
Kemet Automotive gives an insight into the future of electric vehicles in Africa:
While Africa may not currently lead the electrification transition, the 2023 Intra-Africa Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt, has highlighted significant developments on the continent.
The truth is that plug-in hybrids and hybrid vehicles seem to work, especially in South Africa, where electric vehicles (EVs) cost more than Internal Combustion Engine powered vehicles and the electricity situation is questionable at best.
In South Africa, EVs have tariffs of 25% when being shipped into the country from another market, compared to the 18% paid on imported internal combustion engine vehicles. This disparity in import tax is a significant contributor to the higher costs of EVs in South Africa. If you’re curious, the cheapest electric car in South Africa is the GWM Ora, which carries a price tag of R686,950. Imagine a world where the government subsidises EVs, making them more accessible to the average consumer. The dream of zero driving emissions would inch ever closer to reality.
The IATF Auto Forum brought this issue into sharp focus, and the panellists emphasised the need for local production and support to accelerate the transition to EVs. This brings us to Kemet Automotive, which is the first EV carmaker with African origins that seeks to transform the landscape of the vehicle industry. The visionaries behind the groundbreaking initiative are Rui Mendes Da Silva and Nissi Ogulu, and the marque is based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
That said, we sat down with Nissi Ogulu, co-chief executive and co-founder of Kemet Automotive, whose experience can be traced back to 2021, when she was one of the Jaguar Land Rover engineering team members who designed and put together the outstanding fifth-generation Range Rover model.
As we settled into the rhythm of our conversation, Ogulu’s passion for electric vehicles was palpable. She spoke of Kemet Automotive not just as a business but as a mission to bring sustainable, affordable electric mobility to Africa and the world.
Brand expansion
While the brand is still in its inception stages, it has plans to expand to various markets across Africa that will operate on different levels and, according to Ogulu, there are plans to establish manufacturing plants in Senegal and Ghana. The brand aims to have more plants as the demand for Kemet Automotive EVs continues to grow.
“We plan to start with only one plant; who knows what the future looks like 10 years from now? We can’t limit ourselves, especially as the demand for our EVs grows. The company is also growing, and we plan to become a company that exists in as many African countries as possible.”
Because Kemet is manufacturing its electric vehicles locally, it is eliminating the hefty import taxes that often inflate the prices of electric vehicles. These taxes have long kept electric vehicles out of reach for many potential customers. But Kemet aims to make EVs accessible to a wider range of customers while creating jobs, boosting the African economy, and fostering a sense of pride in African innovation.
Kemet models
Although they may not have production models on the road just yet, their vision is already taking shape in the form of six concept vehicles, each one a testament to their commitment to sustainable mobility and African creativity. First, there’s the Gezo, a futuristic tricycle that promises to redefine urban mobility. Then there’s the Nandi, a compact SUV designed for the modern urbanite, and the Mansa, a premium SUV that combines indulgence with sustainability. For those needing speed, there’s an exclusive GT, and for the public transportation sector, Kemet has designed a large shuttle bus.
When asked about the possibility of expanding to the South African market, Ogulu says the brand is looking at expanding to other African countries, so it can’t rule out the idea of bringing its cars to the local market.
Charging infrastructure and range
When it comes to charging infrastructure across Africa, Kemet Automotive says it plans to create many partnerships with specialists, small and medium enterprises, and other electric car manufacturers.
“We are working on creating as many alliances as we can. We already have traction in that space, and we have established two partnerships with EB Manufacturing in the United States, so we really redefined the design going into partnerships, and the distribution pipeline and manufacturing pipeline are already in place. So it’s just about rolling it out,” said Ogulu.
As for their first car, slated to launch in the first quarter of 2027, Kemet is setting the bar high. The EV maker targets a range of up to 500km on a single charge, putting it in the same league as the BMW iX M60 and Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+. And while the brand remains tight-lipped about the battery capacity, they said it will take roughly an hour and a half to recharge the pack from empty to 100% when using what Kemet calls a supercharger.
The most exciting part is the promise of affordability. With a price tag that’s more accessible, Kemet’s model could be the spark that ignites the electric revolution in Africa.
Affordability
Kemet Automotive says it has plans to have a base price of $ 25,000, which translates to roughly R470,897 at the current exchange rate, and this, if we look at the current EV market, will be the most affordable electric car ever to grace South African roads.
“Besides our cars being affordable, we do want to create a product that is of high quality and robust to be able to accommodate our African terrain. We have considered affordability. It is one of our pillars. It’s one of our targets, and we will ensure that the African market can purchase our vehicles.”Regarding the possibility of a bakkie, especially for the local market, Ogulu said it remains a possibility, and if that reaches production stages, it will rival the likes of the upcoming JAC T9.
The post Kemet Automotive gives an insight into the future of electric vehicles in Africa appeared first on The Mail & Guardian.
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