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Sport and recreation
Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) is the national
department responsible for sport in South Africa. Aligned
with its vision of An Active and Winning Nation, its primary
focuses are on providing opportunities for all South Africans to
participate in sport; managing the regulatory framework; and
providing funding for different codes of sport.
The SRSA has a number of flagship programmes through
which it implements its objectives.
These programmes touch the lives of millions of South
Africans, from schoolchildren participating in school sport,
communities sharing in the benefits of mass participation programmes
and events, and organisations benefiting from the
SRSA's financial and logistical support.
Initiatives
Golden Games
The 2011 Golden Games, part of the SRSA's Older Persons
Programme, were held in the Free State in October 2011 with
the theme Celebrating Active Ageing.
The Golden Games is a national event where persons older
than 65 compete in various sporting codes at provincial level.
Codes that form part of the Golden Games include soccer,
athletics (800 m and 4x100-m relay), brisk walk, duck walk,
passing the ball, rugbyball throw, jukskei and goal shooting.
The Western Cape was crowned the 2011 Golden Games
champion.
All-Africa Games
The 10th All-Africa Games took place in September 2011 in
Maputo, Mozambique, and featured 20 sporting disciplines
in which 53 countries participated. Events for people with
disabilities also featured in swimming and athletics.
Team South Africa finished first on the medals table, with
62 gold medals, 55 silver and 40 bronze, totalling 157 medals.
Did you know?
The Guinness Book of World Records has recognised South
Africa's famous ultra-marathon, the Comrades, as the event
with "the most runners in an ultra-marathon".
The 2011 race had 19 951 entries, with approximately 12 600
starters and 11 070 finishers.
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Did you know?
The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) is
the national anti-doping organisation, funded by Sport and
Recreation South Africa (SRSA). Its mandate is to promote
participation in sport, free from the use of prohibited substances
or methods intended to artificially enhance performance in the
interest of the health and well-being of sportspeople.
In June 2011, the SAIDS launched the I Play Fair − Say NO!
to Doping Campaign to spread the message of ethics, fair play and
anti-doping in sport. The SRSA supports the campaign, which provides
education about banned substances and runs actual doping tests.
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South African Sports Awards
The SRSA and the South African Sports Confederation and
Olympic Committee (Sascoc) created the South African Sports
Awards to honour the country's sports stars.
In 2011, 16 awards were handed out at the fourth South
African Sports Awards evening, held at Sun City in August.
The winner of the Sports Star of the Year Award, decided by
the public through voting by SMS and online on the Sascoc
website, was cricketer Hashim Amla. Other winners included:
- Cameron van der Burgh (Sportsman of the Year)
- Noko Matlou (Sportswoman of the Year)
- Former world No 1 golfer Ernie Els, 2010 FIFA World Cup™ organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan, Premier Soccer
League chairperson Irvin Khoza, former South AfricanFootball Association president Molefi Oliphant and fifthdan
karateka Peter Thage received Steve Tshwete Lifetime
Achievement awards
- The Blue Bulls was named Team of the Year and Bulls
mentor, Frans Ludeke, scooped the Coach of the Year
accolade.
- Swimming sensation Chad le Clos was recognised as the
Newcomer of the Year.
- Wheelchair tennis players Lucas Sithole and Kgothatso
Montjane were respectively named Sportsman and
Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability.
2011 sports highlights
Archery
South Africa hosted the 2011 World Indoor Archery
Championships, held in Pretoria in October. Team South Africa
won six gold medals, five silver and three bronze, with four new
world records set.
The gold medallist winners were Jeanine van Kradenburg,
Jakkie Fleming, Jenny Wittstock, Riaan van Wyk, Danielle
Wentzel and Kobus Brink. Van Kradenburg, Flemming and
Wentzel set new three-day world indoor records in their
respective categories, while Brink set a new one-day world
indoor record.
Athletics
In January 2011, South Africa participated in the 2011 International
Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in
Christchurch, New Zealand. Team South Africa ended seventh
on the medals table with 25 medals, made up of nine gold,
seven silver and nine bronze. Oscar Pistorius walked away
with four medals (three gold and one silver) while Teboho
Mokgalagadi and Ilse Hayes both won two gold medals each.
In August 2011, Pistorius reached the semi-final of the International
Association of Athletics Federations Athletics World
Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
South Africa finished 17th on the medals table, with two
silver and two bronze.
Pistorius received the Laureus Sportperson of the Year with
a Disability Award in February 2012.
Biking
Greg Minnaar was placed second in the downhill at the Union
Cycliste Internationale Mountain Bike World Cup in Pietermaritzburg
in April 2011, just 0,241 seconds behind American
Aaron Gwin.
Cricket
India toured South Africa in 2010/11, with the third of three tests
played in January 2011 in Cape Town. The test was drawn,
and the series squared one-all. The two teams then met in
a once-off twenty20 (T20) match, followed by a five-match
one-day international (ODI) series, which South Africa won 3-2.
The 10th International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World
Cup took place in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from
February to April 2011. South Africa finished at the top of Group
B and met New Zealand in the quarter-finals, where they unfortunately
lost. India went on to become the 2011 ICC world
champions.
In April 2011, cricketers Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn were
honoured in the 2011 Wisden Cricketer's Almanack by being
named in its Test XI for the 2010 calendar year.
In October and November 2011, Australia visited the
country to square off in a contest comprising two T20 games,
two ODIs and two tests. The Australians won the first T20,
but the Proteas won the second game to draw the T20 series.
Australia won the first rain-logged ODI, while South Africa
won the second. Australia bounced back to win the third and
decisive game.
The contest between the two countries continued into a
close-fought test series, with the locals winning the first nailbiting
test and the visitors being victorious in the second. On
the first day of the second test, Kallis became only the fourth
batsman ever to score 12 000 test runs.
In December 2011 and January 2012, Sri Lanka toured
South Africa, playing three tests and five ODIs. South Africa
won the test series 2-1 and the ODI series 3-2.
Did you know?
Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis
were all included in the International Cricket Council's (ICC)
Test Team of the Year, with De Villiers and Steyn also included
in the One-Day International Team of the Year.
The following players were shortlisted for 2011 ICC awards:
Amla for the People's Choice Award, the Garfield Sobers Trophy
for Cricketer of the Year and ODI Player of the Year; Kallis for Test
Player of the Year and Spirit of Cricket; and JP Duminy for Twenty20
International Performance of the Year.
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Boxing
In October 2011, Moruti Mthalane successfully defended his
International Boxing Federation flyweight title for a third time
as he stopped home favourite Andrea Sarritzu in the seventh
round in Italy.
Cycling
The South African para-cycling team returned from the 2011
International Cycling Union Para-Cycling Road World Cup
Final, which took place in Canada in July, with six medals.
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Flying
Team South Africa put in an impressive performance at the
20th Precision Flying World Championships, held at Brits in North West in October 2011. South Africa came second in the
Team Landing Category, with squad member Hans Schwebel
being named the runner-up for the landing trophy. This was the
first time the country hosted the event.
Golf
Rory Sabbatini captured his sixth PGA Tour title in March
2011 when he won the Honda Classic on the PGA National
Champion Course at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.
In April 2011, Charl Schwartzel captured a two-shot victory
in the US Masters at Augusta in the United States of America
(USA).
In May 2011, Thomas Aiken won the Spanish Open. His
win was the fifth by a South African on the European Tour in
the 2011 season, following Ernie Els' win in the South African
Open Championship, Louis Oosthuizen claiming the Africa
Open, and Schwartzel triumphing in the Joburg Open and the
Masters. Aiken's victory was the 99th by a South African on the
European Tour.
In the same month, Els was inducted into the World Golf Hall
of Fame. He joined the legendary Gary Player, who entered
the hall in 1974.
Also in May, Schwartzel moved into the top 10, coming
in at number seven, after eight top-10 finishes by the year's
halfway mark. Garth Mulroy scored his maiden PGA European Tour
victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in November 2011,
recording the 100th win by a South African on the tour.
In December 2011, Schwartzel came second in the Thailand
Golf Championship.
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Hockey
In February 2011, the Investec South Africa women's hockey
team defeated China in Bloemfontein, and then concluded the
Investec International Series with a 3-2 win over Belgium.
In June 2011, South African striker Pietie Coetzee broke
the women's hockey world record of 220 test match goals
with a stunning first-half hat-trick and four goals in total in a
5-5 draw between South Africa and the USA at the Champions
Challenge tournament in Dublin. The team went on to claim
fifth place after a 2-1 victory over the hosts, Ireland.
The men's hockey team finished third at the International
Hockey Federation Champions Challenge in Johannesburg in
December 2011.
In the same month, the women's hockey team played in the
Four Nations competition in Argentina. They finished in second
place. India and Ireland also played in the championship.
Did you know?
In July 2011, members of the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) converged in Durban for their annual general meeting – the first time that the committee met on African soil.
The meeting took place at Durban's International Convention
Centre and formed part of the 123rd IOC session, during which
PyeongChang (South Korea) was selected ahead of Munich
(Germany) and Annecy (France) as host city of the 2018 Winter
Olympics.
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Motor racing
Driver Giniel de Villiers finished second in the 2011 Dakar Rally
Argentina − Chile in January 2011.
The International Superstars Series for V8 production cars
was held at South Africa's Kyalami racetrack in Gauteng in
November. Thomas Biagi won the series.
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Netball
In July 2011, South Africa's netball team claimed first place in
Africa and fifth place in the world rankings at the World Netball
Championships in Singapore. Erin Burger was named Player
of the Tournament.
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Polocrosse
In July 2011, South Africa captured the Polocrosse World Cup
title for the first time when they defeated neighbours Zimbabwe
in the final at the Onley Grounds Equestrian Centre near
Rugby in the United Kingdom. Polocrosse is a combination of
polo and lacrosse and the format features men and women
playing alternate chukkas.
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Rugby
The International Rugby Board (IRB) awarded the hosting
rights for the IRB Junior World Championship 2012 to the
South African Rugby Union in April 2011. It took place in June
2012 and was won by South Africa, beating New Zealand in
the final.
South Africa's 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series
campaign proved successful, with the team beating Fiji in the
US leg in Las Vegas in February 2011. In May 2011, South
Africa beat Australia in the final of the London leg of the series.
South Africa went on to win the tournament in the Edinburgh
leg. This was the team's first successive tournament title victories
since 2008, when they won the Dubai and George tournaments
within the space of two weeks.
The team finished
second overall on the HSBC Sevens World Series standings
with 140 points, 16 behind champions New Zealand.
In October 2011, Cecil Afrika was announced the IRB
Sevens Player of the Year.
The 2011 Tri-Nations series was shortened from nine games
to six to accommodate the Rugby World Cup, with each team
playing the other two twice instead of three times. South Africa
lost to Australia twice and once to the All Blacks, before victory
over the All Blacks in August 2011. The series was ultimately
won by Australia.
The seventh Rugby World Cup was held in September and
October 2011 in New Zealand. The Springboks, the defending
champions, kicked off their campaign with a win over Wales.
They went on to convincingly beat Fiji and Namibia, a game in
which Bryan Habana became the most prolific test try-scorer
in South African rugby history with his 39th try in 72 matches.
A victory over Samoa saw the Boks reach the quarter-finals
unbeaten at the top of Pool D. Unfortuantely, they exited the
World Cup in the quarter-finals after a loss against Australia.
New Zealand was ultimately crowned world champions after
beating France in the final, refereed by South Africa's Craig
Joubert.
Soccer
Bafana Bafana began their 2011 season with a victory over
Kenya in a friendly international at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium
in Rustenburg in February.
In March 2011, Bafana Bafana beat Egypt at Coca-Cola
Park in Johannesburg to stay at the top of the African Cup of
Nations (Afcon) qualifying Group G.
South Africa's national women's football team, Banyana
Banyana, defeated Zambia in Lusaka in January 2011 in their
opening qualifier for the 2012 London Olympic Games. They
took a one-goal advantage into their second-leg Olympic qualifier against Tunisia in April 2011 after beating the north
Africans in Durban, advancing to the final group of four African
countries in the hunt for two places at the London 2012
Olympics.
South Africa's under-23 football team went through to the
last round of qualifying for the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo,
Mozambique, despite a loss to Malawi in May 2011. They put
on a superb performance in the second leg of their Olympic
qualifier against Benin at Johannesburg's Rand Stadium in
June 2011 to reach the last eight of the qualifiers.
Siphiwe Tshabalala captained Bafana Bafana to a 0-0 draw
in their 2012 Afcon qualifying match against Egypt at the
Military Academy Stadium in Egypt in June 2011.
In July 2011, the under-23 men's side qualified for the All-
Africa Games despite a loss, while Banyana Banyana was
beaten in the final of the Council of Southern Africa Football
Associations Women's Championship.
Both sides were in
action against Zimbabwe at the Rufaro Stadium in Harare.
Shakes Mashaba's charges were beaten on the day, but the
goal difference from their previous encounter gave South
Africa a victory on aggregate.
Banyana Banyana qualified for the All-Africa Games, which
took place in Mozambique in September. Unfortunately, they
fell to Zimbabwe.
In July 2011, South Africa's Kaizer Chiefs netted a late
winner to edge Champions League quarter-finalists Tottenham
Hotspur 1-0 in the opening match of the Vodacom Challenge
at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Bafana Bafana outplayed Burkina Faso at Coca-Cola
Park in Johannesburg in August 2011.
They lost to Niger and
conceded their lead in Group G in September 2011. They then
drew with Sierra Leone in Nelspruit. However, the team did not
qualify for the 2012 Afcon finals.
In September 2011, Banyana Banyana secured their spot
at the 2012 London Olympics with a 1-0 draw over Ethiopia.
The annual Nelson Mandela Challenge was held in Port
Elizabeth in November 2011, where Bafana Bafana drew with
Côte d'Ivoire to share the trophy.
In December 2011, the South African under-23 side drew
with Gabon in Morrocco in their second match of the Confederation
of African Football Under-23s Championship. The
eight-nation tournament also served as the qualifying tournament
for the 2012 London Olympics.
Did you know?
In February 2011, Sibusiso Vilane (40) became the first black
African to summit Mount Everest and walk to the South Pole
completely unaided.
He was also the first black man to climb the highest peaks on
all seven continents, earning him a place in the prestigious Seven
Summits Club, which has just six South Africans among its 198
members worldwide.
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Special Olympics
The South African team that participated in the 2011 Special
Olympics World Summer Games in Greece brought home 71
medals and countless ribbons. They received 38 gold, 20 silver
and 13 bronze medals respectively in swimming, track and
field, basketball, boxing, soccer, golf and table tennis.
Surfing, surfski and canoeing
In June 2011, Hank McGregor won his third Dunlop Surfski
World Cup title in Durban. The women's race was dominated
by Eastern Cape Olympian Michéle Eray, who won the
women's event and finished 25th overall in the competition.
The Dunlop Surfski World Cup set a world record when 330 entries were received by close of normal entries on 10 June,
making it the biggest international surfski event in the world.
In July 2011, South Africa finished seventh out of 27 nations
at the 2011 Billabong International Surfing Association World
Surfing Games in Panama.
The eight-surfer team collected a
copper medal for placing fourth in the Aloha Cup event.
Later the same month, South African big-wave star Grant "Twiggy" Baker won the first Oakley One Wave Wonder event
powered by Zigzag.
At the end of July 2011, Jordy Smith captured the 2011 Billabong
Pro Jeffreys Bay in a hard-fought final over Australia's
Mick Fanning.
In October 2011, the South African Masters surfing team
finished third in the team competition at the 2011 El Salvador
International Surfing Association World Masters Surfing Championship.
They also bagged five individual medals, one in each
of the five contested categories.
At the end of October, McGregor won the 2011 International
Canoe Federation Canoe Marathon World Championship K1
title in Singapore. The competition was a productive one for theSouth African contingent, with the Masters Cup team claiming
11 medals in day one's races: five gold, four silver and two
bronze.
Swimming In June 2011, South Africa's squad claimed two gold, one silver
and two bronze medals on the first day of the Canet, France,
leg of the Mare Nostrum series.
Cameron van der Burgh showed his skills in the 50-m breaststroke
when he won gold. The 14-year-old Michelle Weber
bagged the 800-m freestyle title, finishing over five seconds
ahead of the pack. Gerhard Zandberg set a new meeting
record as he took gold in the men's 50-m backstroke.
Chad le Clos made a big impact on the Fina/Arena World
Cup circuit in 2011, winning 23 gold medals, 10 silver and two
bronze – a total of 34 medals from seven meetings. He was
also named the Best Male Swimmer in the series. Van der
Burgh won two bronze medals in the series.
South Africa also excelled at the Africa Junior Swimming
Championship in Nigeria in December 2011. The team returned
with 69 medals out of a possible 80. They won 35 gold medals
and set 11 gala records.
Tennis South Africa's number one women's player, Chani Scheepers,
claimed her maiden Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour
title in the Wanlima International Women's Open in Guanzhou,
China, in September. Scheepers' victory ended an eight-year
title drought for South Africa.
Days later, South African doubles specialist Natalie Grandin
also won her maiden WTA title at the Hansol Korea Open in
Seoul, South Korea.
South Africa became the first African country to host the
Wheelchair Tennis World Team Cup when the 27th competition
took place at the University of Pretoria in April 2011.
South
Africa's men's wheelchair tennis team won a bronze medal,
while the Netherlands proved themselves to be number one
in both the men's and women's game.
Source: Pocket Guide to South Africa 2011/12
Editor: Louise van Niekerk. Government Communication and Information
System
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Last modified: 26 November 2012 17:37:01.
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