JEAN DE VILLIERS

Despite a career plagued by injuries at the most inopportune moments, popular and experienced Currie Cup, Super Rugby and international rugby centre, Jean de Villiers, returned to South Africa from a year playing for Munster in Ireland and not only secured a place on the South African team, but secured the captaincy of our team – leading them to victory against England in June this year.

Born in Paarl, in the Western Cape on 24th February in 1981, De Villiers completed his schooling at Paarl Gimnasium High School, an Afrikaans school with a reputation for producing a number of top sportsmen including rugby players such as Schalk Burger and Marius Joubert.

De Villiers commenced his university studies at Stellenbosch University and played for the Under 20s and the Maties First Team before he decided to ditch studying in favour of concentrating on rugby.

The former wing’s career took off in 2002 when De Villiers played a major role in the success of the South African Sevens when they secured second place in the 2001-2002 World Sevens Series and third spot in the 2002 Common Wealth Games.

In 2002 he scored four tries for the Junior Springboks in the U21 Rugby World Cup. De Villiers then went on to debut at senior level, wearing the green and gold jersey for the first time in November 2002 in the test against France in Marseilles at the age of 21 – but he only got to play for five minutes before a serious knee injury left him out of the game.

By 2004 De Villiers had recovered his fitness and winning form and scored three tries, helping the Boks to an unexpected victory in the Tri-Nations Series. In 2005 de Villiers was a nominee for SA Rugby Player of the Year.

Locally he played for Western Province in the Currie Cup. He debuted for the Stormers in 2005 against the Sharks in Super Rugby and served as the Stormers captain in 2008 and 2009.
In 2006 he went on to captain the Springbok team in the World 15 at Ellis Park in June 2006. A regular for the SA squad in 2007, a torn bicep in the first game of the 2007 saw him watch South Africa’s World Cup victory from the sidelines.

His strong form continued in 2008, with De Villiers playing in all 13 Springbok Test matches – including an historic win over New Zealand – and the three matches on the English tour. His performance on and off the field won him the SA Rugby Player of the year as well as the Players’ Player of the Year award in 2008.

De Villiers played an important role in South Africa winning the Tri-Nations again in 2009 before he left to play for Munster in Ireland on a one-year contract. He opted not to renew his contract with Munster and returned to South Africa in 2010.

He joined the South African squad in 2010 and signed up for Western Province for the 2010 Currie Cup, but missed a number of these matches due to playing for the international squad.

De Villiers also tied the knot in 2010, marrying Marlie in August with a wedding ceremony at Toring Kerk in Paarl, with their reception at the nearby Kronenburg Estate

He also signed up for the Stormers to play in the inaugural Super 15 competition in 2011.
Considered one of South Africa’s most talented and experienced rugby players, De Villiers has played a total of 77 rugby test matches and scored 73 tries for Western Province and 20 for South Africa. He currently holds the record as the most-capped South Africa centre (62).

In December 2011, De Villiers received an early Christmas present, with the birth of his first child, a daughter named Layli Cardea de Villiers.

Springbok coach, Heyneke Meyer, selected De Villiers to captain the Super Rugby team for the 2012 mid-year test series in June this year against England – which De Villiers considers the highlight of his career. The squad won the first two games 22-17 and 36-27 with the third ending in a 14-14 draw.
Meyer said: “Jean has really impressed me with the way he’s led a young Stormers team, and as the Springboks are a team in transition, I cannot think of a better man equipped to mentor the youngsters in our squad,” on selecting De Villiers for the position.

De Villiers captaincy was a trial for the three-test march against England with the decision up for review after that – but De Villiers seems to have passed the initial test and has continued to lead South Africa’s relatively young and inexperienced team since then.

JO-ANN STRAUSS

Former millennium Miss South Africa, Jo-Ann Strauss, seems to have one of those enchanted fairy tale careers which has seen her catapult from beauty queen to become a successful model and stylish media personality, sought after master of ceremonies and an astute business woman who continues to capture the attention of her many fans.

Born in Cape Town in 3 February 1981, Strauss grew up in Blackheath with her parents, Ingrid and Johan Strauss and younger brother Heinrich. She attended Uitsig Primary School and then caught the train to Hottentots-Holland High School in Somerset West for her senior school years to include Xhosa amongst her subjects. She was head girl, played some school soccer, but mostly concentrated on her studies.

After getting a 93% average in her matric finals, Strauss, who had dreams of becoming a hotshot obstetrician or gynaecologist, was accepted to study medicine at the University of Stellenbosch – but she decided to keep her options open and opted for a commerce degree at Maties.

Her University friends talked the elegant and adventurous Strauss into entering Miss Stellenbosch University, then they dared her to enter Miss Teen SA where one of the judges suggested she enter the Miss South Africa competition – which she won in 2000, her second year at University at the age of 19.

As our millennium Miss South Africa, Strauss represented SA at the Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico, placing sixth, and in the Miss World pageant at Sun City in 2001. She also launched a successful media career, auditioning for a position as a presenter on the Afrikaans magazine programme, Pasella on SABC2, in 2000.

She completed her commerce bachelor’s degree, with a focus on law, at Stellenbosch University, and presented for Pasella until 2004 when she secured a position as an anchor for the English lifestyle magazine show, Top Billing. As one of four presenters for Top Billing, she filled four passports travelling the world widely for Top Billing and travel series Top Travel over a six-year period, and interviewed a range of local and international celebrities.

With growing recognition as one of South Africa’s most stylish presenters, our glamorous beauty queen also regularly graced the covers of a number of South African magazines including Mooi, Rooirose, Makeover, My Health, Kuier, Sarie, Women’s Health, My Week, Juice, Destiny, Finesse, De Kat and Top Billing magazine.

A respected media personality, fluent in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa and German, Strauss is a sought after MC and speaker and has entertained audiences in South Africa and around the world. She also presented the opening of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa for German television network ZDF and has charmed guests as far afield as the BMW World Golf Final in Phuket to awards dinners Sardinia and Monaco.

In 2009 she was chosen as the face of Lux – a career highlight for Strauss because Lux has always used top celebrities and beauty stars such as Marilyn Munroe, Sophia Loren, Rachel Weisz, Sarah Jessica Parker and Catherine Zeta-Jones. She also launched her acting career with a short role, appearing as pushing journalist in a German movie called The Secret of the Whales. The plot involves saving whales whose sonar is disrupted by technology used by companies drilling offshore for oil.

Following several years of dating her German doctor boyfriend, Michael Held, who’s athletic background is reputed to have improved Strauss’ workouts, the two wed earlier this year at a small and very private function, with 31 guests and no media, at Camps Bay Retreat.

Apart from running her own communications company, Strauss sits on a number of boards including the Western Cape Board of Ubuntu-Botho, a division of Sanlam. But her main interest is in corporate social investment.

In 2008 Strauss started the Princess Project, providing deserving young ladies the chance to go to their matric dance or proms in designer gowns previously owned by South African celebrities. She’s the chairperson of the Partnership Foundation Trust which has provided life and career skills training to more than 1,200 disadvantaged students. She’s also a shareholder and director in a venture capital company Partnership Investments, a women-owned black economic empowerment company that aims to contribute to the transformation process in South Africa and develop leadership talents in underprivileged children.

Towards the end of 2011 Strauss initiated the first online Presenter Search 2012 competition to put the presentation skills of young would-be presenters to the test. The top four candidates were taken on a life-changing trip to Zambia and given the chance to hone their skills with training and mentoring from Strauss and Bonang Matheba. Although some prizes were donated most of the competition cost were as paid for by Strauss to help talented South African’s, like winner Buhle Moletsane, break into the media industry.

HEYNEKE MEYER

In January this year, popular former Blue Bulls trainer, Heyneke Meyer, was appointed coach for the South African national rugby team on a four-year term, replacing Peter de Villiers – however, despite a successful career, Meyer’s path to coaching the Boks has been anything but smooth.

As the only coach whose achievements included winning the Super 14, Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions he was a strong contender to succeed Jake White at the helm of Springbok rugby in 2008, but De Villiers got the job. Meyer quit rugby taking on a senior role in a sports supplement company before being enticed back to coach the UK’s Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership.

Now finally charged with leading the Boks to success, Meyer, who by his own admission is not a “quick-fix coach”, faces the tough challenge of taking over a team in the rebuilding phase and developing them into a winning team.

Born in Nelspruit on October 6, 1967, Meyer completed his schooling at Nelspruit’s Bergvlam Hoerskool before studying sports psychology at the University of Pretoria.

He graduated from Tukkies with a Bachelor of Arts with majors in psychology, human movement science and geography and went on to complete an honours degree in geography and an HED. Meyer was both a player and a coach during his time at Tukkies, as well as a part-time sports administrator and the member of his house committee responsible for sport.

Between 1988 and 1996 he coached a variety of teams from high school first teams, Under 21 sides to Carlton League first teams. His notable achievement during this time was that all the teams under his care reached the semi-finals in every season.

Meyer’s professional career stepped up a gear in 1997 when he was appointed assistant coach for the George-based Eagles, responsible for coaching and developing the forwards. In 1998 Meyer was promoted head coach of the South West District team and the Eagles finished the Currie Cup in seventh position – their best finish on record. The following year the Eagles made it into the Currie Cup semi-finals under Meyer’s watchful coaching.

He was appointed assistant coach of the Springboks during the 1999 World Cup, before heading for the hallowed ground of Loftus Versveld as head coach for the Northern Bulls in the Super 12s (as it was known then) in 2000 and as coach for the Blue Bulls in 2002. He overcame personal stresses (including the hospitalisation of both his father and wife on the same day in 2002) and coached the Blue Bulls from 2002 to 2007, leading them to the finals in all six Currie Cups as well has winning four Currie Cup titles. In 2007 the Blue Bulls, under Meyer’s leadership, became the first South African team to win the Super 14 competition – as well as the first team to win three away games on an Australasian tour.

Meyer was nominated as coach of the year by SA Rugby magazine in 2005, inducted into the University of Pretoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and  was a Tukkies Laureate winner in 2007. His stellar performance earned him a reputation as South Africa’s most successful coach, and Meyer was a popular choice to take over from Jake White as national rugby coach in 2008 – but that was not to be.

The father of three sons, feeling disillusioned, resigned from rugby that year but was enticed back to coaching by an offer to take up a position of head coach for the UK-based Leicester Tigers. He filled the role for eight months before retuning to South Africa for personal reasons and then taking up an executive oversight role with the Blue Bulls as well as taking on an advisory role for the Tuks Varsity Cup.

Four years after missing out on the coveted top job, Meyer, known as a tough coach who demands the best of his players, was the top contender for national coach again this year.

With the retirement of key players and a disappointing quarter-final in the 2011 Rugby World Cup under De Villiers, Meyer has inherited a team in the rebuilding stage – something Meyer has excelled at with the Blue Bulls in the past – and the unenviable task of balancing rebuilding a national team with the expectation of producing wins from the outset.

His decision to use younger players in recent matches against England has already drawn some harsh criticism, despite winning the first game. But it’s time to throw our support behind one of South Africa’s most successful coaches to date, and give him time to build our fine rugby players into a strong winning team and do the job the Rugby Union has hired him to do.

KOPANO MATLWA

Kopano Matlwa is an inspirational young South African woman in her mid-20s who has already achieved more than most of us dream of achieving in a lifetime. She has completed her medical degree, won a scholarship to complete her masters at Oxford University in the UK, and written two award-winning novels.

Her list of achievements (which she won’t want used to define her) includes being selected as one of eight Goldman Sachs Global Leaders in 2005 and making the Mail & Guardian “100 young South Africans you must take to lunch” list two years in a row.

The eldest of Matsobane and Ingrid Matlwa’s three children, Kopano was born at the Mamelodi Day Hospital in Pretoria in 1985. As big sister to Tumelo and Manewa, she grew up in Midrand in Gauteng and won a scholarship to attend St Peter’s College in Sunninghill, Johannesburg, on the northern border of Eskom’s Megawatt Park.

Kopano was selected as Head Girl at high school, achieved full academic colours and matriculated with seven distinctions before heading to the University of Cape Town (UCT) to study medicine and always seems on the lookout to improve herself and the space around her.

At UCT she furthered her schoolgirl interest in community outreach projects as a volunteer for the Students' Health and Welfare Centres Organisation a student-run NGO at UCT that aims to improve the quality of life for individuals in developing communities. Kopano was also a member of the Clarinus House Committee, an orientation leader and member and mentor of the Golden Key National Honour Society – well known for developing exceptional leaders.

In her second year at medical school Kopano was selected as one of eight Goldman Sachs Global Leaders and went on to represent South Africa at the Goldman Sachs Global Leadership Institute in New York.

She was also a founding member and chairperson of Waiting Room Education by Medical Students, a non-profit organisation teaching patients, in the waiting rooms of mobile clinics, about common health conditions to empower them to take their health into their own hands.

While studying for her bachelors in medicine and surgery, the energetic Kopano made the time to follow in the footsteps of her heroine author, Toni Morrison, and wrote her first novel. She started writing about two young women growing up in contemporary South Africa in December 2003, after discussions with her sister Tumelo made her realise the important and uncomfortable issues people should consider.

Several rejection slips from publishers later, just as her manuscript was doomed to languish in a drawer while she set off on other pursuits, her debut novel Coconut – a fascinating view into the lives and issues of South African youth living in the modern post-apartheid era – won an EU Literary Award and a publishing contract with Jacana Books, when Kopano was just 21. Coconut, published in 2007, also won Kopano the JD Baqwa merit award.

Her highly acclaimed novel is a now set book, used as a teaching tool in many South African schools and several universities, and won the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature in 2010.

“I’ve always been a dreamer, with many goals and millions of ideas. My family and close friends will tell you what a restless soul I am; always involved in something new, often wearing myself out in the process,” said Kopano at the launch of Coconut in 2007.

Motivated by a quote from Abraham Maslow that reads: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be,” Kopanos said that it was only after publishing Coconut that she truly understood that “when you have a dream or a goal you must go for it with your all, not only for the sake of others who are sure to benefit from what you can contribute, but for your own sake.”

Kopano completed her second book Spilt Milk before she graduated from medical school in 2010 – and made it onto the prestigious long list for the 2011 Sunday Times Fiction Prize, although she didn’t get onto the short list.

In 2010 Kopano was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University in the UK, where she’s currently reading for her masters in Global Health.

In a recent interview with Brenda Nyakudya for AfroPolitan Kopano said: “Fear is a powerfully debilitating emotion, and if you can conquer that, you can conquer anything.” Kopano certainly seems to have found an effective way to conquer any of her fears and achieve great heights!

LEE-ANNE PACE

Five years after turning professional, South African golfer Lee-Anne Pace, then 29, won her first professional tournament at the Ladies’ Swiss Open in June 2010, and went on to bag a further five wins to top the Ladies European Tour money list last year, earning EUR 359, 517 - the equivalent of R3.5million.

After winning the Swiss Open, the Mossel Bay club player won the Wales Ladies’ Open, the Finnair Masters, and secured two back-to-back victories at the Sanya China Ladies’ Open and the Suzhou Taihu Ladies’ Open in China before clinching top honours with her win in Dubai.

Pace is the first South African to top the Henderson Money List  – formerly known as the Order of Merit - on the European circuit, and has clearly found her swing, beating well-known UK veteran golfer Laura Davies to the top of the list in the final round at the Dubai Ladies’ Masters.

The thirty-year-old with an every-ready smile was also voted as the Players’ Player of the Year by her peers.  Being recognised by one’s peers is perhaps an even greater compliment, and with her sights set on winning a major tournament next year, this lady could well be setting a pace that will be hard to match.

Currently ranked 58^th in the world, Pace was born in Paarl in the Western Cape. The eldest of two daughters, she grew up in Wellington and attended the Hugenote Hoerskool there. When she was growing up she wanted to become a doctor or surgeon but finally decided to focus on golf as a career.

Her first introduction to golf was though her Dad, Francois Pace, who Pace describes as quite a good golfer. At age twelve the athletic hockey and tennis player used to caddy for her Dad for pocket money, earning R20 for a round of 18 holes on the weekend.

She moved from playing caddy to playing golf with the boys, and entered her first tournament at the age of 18. It was around then that her Dad suggested she seriously consider taking golf up as a career.

Pace, who loves the ocean, red wine and chocolate, went to study in the US, first at Murray State University and then the University of Tulsa and launched a successful amateur collegiate career while completing her degree in psychology.

She won the 2003 Ohio Valley Conference Championship, the 2003 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year as well as 2003 Murray State Player of the Year. She then won the University of Tulsa Player of the Year and the WAC Championship in 2005.

After turning pro in May 2005 Pace, who admits she is quietly ambitious, has worked steadily on improving her skills and her ranking. In her rookie year on the Ladies’ European Tour in 2007 she finished 110^th. She moved up quickly to 64^th in 2008 and 21^st in 2009 – while also being recognised as Player of the Year for 2009 by Complete Golfer and Golf Digest.

In 2010 she topped the Ladies’ European Tour list, beating 170 international players. Pace attributes her recent success to hard work, both on and off the course; working with South African-based coach Val Holland and James Pett, her coach based in Copenhagen, Denmark – where Pace was based last year for the European tour. She says she has been working a lot on her swing and also working out in the gym to improve her strength for distance shots.

Pace says apart from the physical training she’s also changed her mental approach to her training and game – becoming more goal oriented and tactical. She prepares in advance to understand the types of shots she’ll need to use for the course she is playing and also visualises her shots before playing.

As glamorous as all the travelling and winning sounds, there’s a lot involved and Pace says it takes time to get used to it all. The experience of a new country, new hotel, new course, different procedures, different food, different weather – or even just seeing your name on the leader board – can be a bit overwhelming initially. But South Africa’s rising golfing star seems to have adjusted to all those requirements.

Pace says the thing she’d most like to change is her impatience. She’s not a superstitious player, but admits that ever since she started wearing a white outfit for every final round she’s won a lot more tournaments.

 
After such a successful 2010, this year Pace, who aims to be one of the best woman golfers in the world, has her sights set on the US where she plans to compete in six events including the US Women’s Open, while still travelling back to Europe for all the big tournaments on the Ladies’ European Tour.

INA PAARMAN

Ina Paarman, one of South African’s most renowned food writers and television personalities, left her position as a senior lecturer at the Cape Technikon to open her own cooking school. Her business expanded alongside her culinary reputation and grew to the point where Ina Paarman is a well-known household name – and her gourmet range of dressings, sauces and seasonings add that final “secret ingredient” touch to many of the meals that grace our tables.

Reading this makes moving from being a home economist to award winning food journalist, author of eight cook books and the name behind one of South African’s well-known living culinary brands sound easy – but as Ina’s motto goes: nothing is easy.

Let’s start at the beginning of Ina’s successful journey. She spent her formative years in Beaufort West in the Karoo. At the age of 10 her young life took a dramatic turn when her father died of a heart attack at the age of 36, forcing her mother to find a job and become a career woman.

They moved to grandmother Anna’s dairy farm near Germiston and Ina completed her schooling at Hoer Volkskool Heidelberg in Gauteng. She enjoyed reading and participating in the drama group and went on to pursue her childhood ambition to be a teacher, completing a Higher Diploma in Education – her springboard to becoming a home economics teacher.

In 1982 Ina felt she needed a new challenge and with a little encouragement from her mother and support from her husband Ted, she made the scary decision to leave her secure lecturing job to start Ina’s Kitchen. The mother of two boys started her school, teaching the art of cooking with a uniquely South African flavour, from a converted garage in her home in Constantia in Cape Town.

From humble beginnings with six students enrolled at Ina’s Kitchen it didn’t take too long before the classes became so popular that Ina found there were not enough hours in the day to keep up with demand. As a result of growing word-of-mouth referrals and writing a regular food column in Die Burger Ina also became a respected South African food authority. She went on to write for a number of other publications including becoming the first food editor for Femina, and won both the Mondi and Galliova awards for excellence in food journalism.

Ina also had her own regular television cooking-slot on Good Morning South African and published the first of eight cookbooks – Cook with Ina Paarman. Her other books include The Ina Paarman all colour cookbook, Real food for real people, and five smaller publications: Cakes and desserts, What’s for supper?, What’s cooking?, What’s on the braai?, and Summer food.

As a sideline to her burgeoning home-based industry Ina developed a range of seasonings, sauces, bake mixes and dressings, starting with a seasoned sea salt using Grandma Anna’s recipe. The Paarman Foods brand that this evolved into took off when the Paarman’s youngest son, Graham, a certified accountant, joined Ina and her husband Ted in the business in 1990.

With Graham’s help they revamped the packaging, aggressively expanded the product range, hired factory premises in Diep River in Cape Town, and took on more staff and secured a shelf space in major retailers such as Pick ‘n Pay and Spar.

In 1995 they stared exporting to the UK and Australia and in 1998 Ina and her team began to supply customised products to restaurants and franchise groups – and are the ninth largest grocery to supplier to Woolworths. Today the Ina Paarman brand you see on the shelves is just 55% of the business.

When Ina, now widowed, is not busy in the business she relaxes with a good book, watches movies or heads out to do some gardening. She says she has a consultative management style, and likes to brainstorm before they set about doing anything to maintain a motivated team.

Paarman Foods has grown into a significant player servicing local and international supermarkets as well as the local food industry with a diverse range of gourmet products. Although they produce food on a large-scale commercial basis they’ve not lost the focus on producing healthy preservative-free food with an authentic home-made taste – and that could well be the secret to their continued success.

The Ina Paarman trademark is all about authenticity. The ingredients they use are of the best quality and Ina remains hands-on in the business – developing recipes, controlling quality and taste and communicating personally with customers and fans alike. She feels her secret to success likes in hard work, doing what she loves, and accepting support from her family.

RHODA KADALIE

Rhoda Kadalie unflinchingly cuts to the chase with her direct and assertive approach to gender and human rights, as well as politics in South Africa. She has a strong anti-apartheid profile but in September 2011 resigned somewhat controversially from the Stellenbosch University Council over the appointment of the lesser qualified of two candidates to a senior post and the dilution of academic excellence in the name of transformation.

She’s the granddaughter of Clements Kadalie, one of the first black trade unionist in South Africa, an academic, anthropologist, human rights activist, newspaper columnist and social commentator - and is admired (and sometimes feared) for her no-nonsense and forthright attitude. She’s recently released her first book, a compilation of her columns, appropriately titled: In your face – Passionate conversations about people and politics.

Kadalie was born on 22 September 1953 in District Six and grew up with seven brothers and a sister 16 years her junior in Mowbray before her family was moved, in her final year of high school, to the “coloured” area of Athlone, on the Cape Flats, under the Group Areas Act. 

The family ran without gender stereotypical roles under a mother who made it clear she wasn’t wiling to be anyone’s slave – which imbued a healthy sense of gender equality and fairness in Kadalie. She learnt the quality of assertiveness from her mother; and as the daughter of pastor, Kadalie grew up with strong Christian values, principle among which was respect.

After completing her studies at Harold Cressy High School she went on to study library science and anthropology completing her arts degree at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) where she developed an interest in politics and women’s rights. Kadalie went on to lecture at the University of Cape Town’s summer school, and after completing her masters at the Institute for Social Science in the Netherlands, she returned to UWC to lecture anthropology and went on to play a founding role in the UWC’s Office of Gender Equity. 

While bringing up her daughter, Julia, largely as a single mother, she campaigned against the attitude the women’s rights should be sacrificed in the name of a unified political struggle and, although labelled a bourgeois Western feminist, continued undeterred to campaign against sexual harassment and rape on campus.

With Kadaie’s influence as one of a group of women to campaign for women’s rights as human rights on the UWC campus, the university was the first campus to develop a sexual harassment policy. They also successfully campaigned for maternity and paternity benefits for academics, equal housing benefits – as well as push for the promotion of women in the academic hierarchy.

Kadalie left her life as an activist academic at UWC to take up an appointment from Nelson Mandela as a Human Rights Commissioner for the Western and Northern Cape in 1995 but she left after three years when she realised that people were being paid “gravy-train salaries” while cheating tax payers as a result of inadequate leadership, control and direction.

In 1998 she headed up the district Land Claims Commission for District Six to deal with 2,000 unprocessed land claims – an issue close to her heart. The R1.7million budget for the first year never materialised and Kadalie left the Commission in 1999, disappointed after being told to pay over the funding she’d raised for her office to a central kitty.

In 1999 the University of Uppsala in Sweden awarded Kadalie an honorary doctorate in liberal arts and she founded the Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust in the same year. Under Kadalie’s directorship, the non-profit Impumelelo provides financial assistance to innovative and well-run public-private partnerships that improve the quality of life of the poor in South Africa – with a focus on building capacity for service delivery.

Kadaie was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature from UWC in 2007, and is a regular columnist in Die Burger and Beeld.

Apart from humanitarian work in her role as Executive Director at Impumelelo (now known as the Impumelelo Social Innovation Centre) Kadalie serves on the Rhodes Scholarship Committee, the University of Cape Town Council and served on the Stellenbosch University Council prior to her resignation in 2011.

Dubbed the ANC’s internal critic she’s anti-transformation and affirmative action if it means South Africans, especially poor South Africans, have to suffer incompetence and lack of service delivery as a result.

Kadalie plays a tireless and vital role in keeping our politicians honest – or at least more honest than they would be otherwise – and deserves our thanks as a champion of equal rights for all.

PAUL TREU

Popular national rugby Sevens captain and coach, Paul Treu, has coached the Springbok Sevens squad (known as the Blitzbokke) to a number of victories including a World Series win in 2009. He’s revolutionised the way Sevens is viewed in South Africa, and is focusing on building a strong squad for the first inclusion of rugby Sevens as a sport in the 2016 Olympic Games. In addition Treu and is a popular choice as a future backline coach for the Springbok rugby squad.

Treu was born on 23 July 1971 in Swellendam at the foot of the Langeberg mountains in the Western Cape, a two-to-three hour drive east of Cape Town about half way between the mother city and George. He went to Bontebok Primary School and matriculated from Swellendam Senior Secondary School before completing his teacher’s diploma at the University of the Western Cape, his honours at Stellenbosch University and his masters in educational psychology at the University of Port Elizabeth.

After making his rugby debut for the South Western Districts’ Eagles at the Bankfin Currie Cup in 1996 Treu made the Emerging Springboks squad in 1997, playing against the Lions. He played for the Northern Bulls and Vodacom Eagles in 2000 and 2001 in the Super 12s and the Mighty Elephants in 2002 and 2003 before specialising as an international Sevens player and team captain.

Treu first played for South Africa at the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens in Uruguay and Argentina in 2000. He represented South African in the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Argentina in 2001 and the IRB Sevens in South Africa and the Common Wealth Games Sevens in 2002.

In the 2003/04 season, while battling with a knee injury, the international Sevens player, at short notice moved from being captain of the Sevens Boks in one season to coach the next season, and quickly put the experience that helped him earn more than 70 tries as a Sevens player to good use.

In the fourth international game after Treu took over as coach the Sevens Boks squad won the IRB tournament in Singapore. Treu went on to build squads that won games in the US, Wellington, Dubai, South Africa, Australia, London, Edinburgh and Paris. Under the former teacher’s leadership the Sevens Boks managed to win at least one tournament in every series for several years in a row after he took over as coach.

With a World Series win in the 2008/09 season Treu joined the ranks as one of three coaches other than New Zealand’s Gordon Tietjens to have won a World Series.

But Treu is possibly best known for having revolutionised Sevens Rugby in South Africa. His vision for developing the game has resulted in a permanent Sevens base camp in Stellenbosch and the contracting of full time Sevens players. He was first (together with the South African Rugby Union) to offer some Sevens players professional contracts to keep the in the game which, along with his selection planning and coaching, has improved the quality of players and the attractiveness of Sevens.

While the Springbok and Super 15 squads attract the top players, Sevens is seen as a developmental tool for rugby talent, and Sevens is likely to grow in popularity with the introduction of the first provincial Sevens tournament in schools this year and the inclusion of Sevens in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Since the 2009 World Series victory Treu lost a number of Sevens team stalwarts and his current focus is to develop a strong young team for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He’ll need a squad ready by 2013 to play in the qualifiers and will be putting together a strategic plan for 2016.

Known as a shrewd tactician, Treu is seen as a favourite to become the new backline coach for the Springbok squad. He wasn’t available for comment to confirm or deny persistent rumours, but In earlier interviews in the media he has indicated that he is contracted to the Sevens squad until 2013 and remains committed to the Blitzbokke until then. However, speculation about a possible move is rife.

In an interview with Business Day, former Springbok wing Ray Mordt said: “The skills Paul would transfer to the backline from the Sevens code could be invaluable in boosting the team’s performance because the speed of play in Seven is much quicker than in the 15-man code.”

CONRAD STOLTZ

Conrad Stoltz, known fondly as “The Caveman” for his imposing 19-metre frame and super-human sporting achievements, is our world champion triathlete. He’s won five South African Triathlon titles, five All Africa Triathlon Championships, and has four off-road XTERRA World Championship wins. This year Stoltz bagged the inaugural ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship title, another off-road triathlon race.

He’s also competed in the Olympic Games, in both Sydney and Athens, and at 37 is racing stronger than ever. He’s currently in the US powering his way to new records, having just won his 40^th title in the XTERRA series, with a strong chance of achieving his goal of a fifth XTERRA World Championship title.

Born in Lydenberg in Mupmalanga province on 23 October 1973, Stoltz grew up near Pretoria. He rode his first bicycle without training wheels at the age of three, and started racing BMX at seven.

Coming from an athletic family he was also involved in running track and field events at school, running competitively from the age of 10.

Stoltz got his first road bike when he was 14 – the same year he competed in his first triathlon, together with his father, Gert. As a junior athlete, Stoltz was South Africa’s junior dualthlon and trialthlon champion in 1990 and 1991.

At 18 Stoltz launched his career as a professional triathlete. He had some impressive wins early in his career, with five South African and five All Africa titles and raced six seasons for French clubs Montpelier and Cahors in the mid-1990s.

In 2001 Stoltz’s career took off with a win in the legendary Chicago Triathlon and taking the XTERRA series World Championship title in the US. This was his rookie year in the competition, with no sponsor. He won the race with a 10-minute lead, and successfully defended his title in 2002.

After setbacks and injuries in 2005 and a near career-ending crash in 2006, Stoltz reclaimed the XTERRA World Championship title in 2007 and again in 2010, and has been USA Champion eight times since his first win in 2001 - only missing the 2004 and 2006 titles.

To balance these highlights, Stotlz has had his share of lowlights, including mechanical failures, punctures, and race or pre-race injuries. Not all of these could stop The Caveman. He cut his foot three minutes before the start of the XTERRA race in Richmond, but still managed to win the race before being whisked off to hospital to have eight stitches, and a major operation four days later. 

But Stoltz’s worst injury was in 2006 when a serious crash left him with a broken back and seven breaks in his wrist – one day before an important competition.

An avid black and white photographer and flyshisherman, Stolltz recently said that he’d met his match. He didn’t mean someone who cycled, ran or swam faster than he does; he was announcing his engagement to Liezel Wium. The happy couple are due to tie the knot on 11 November this year.

Now in his tenth year of racing mostly in the US, Stoltz is based in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. He lives on a diet of potatoes, eating about eight potatoes a day and lots of meat, and spends three months here in intense training before going over to the US to compete, spending six months based in the US racing, with a second home base in Bend, Oregon.

The remaining three months of the year Stoltz spends with his father, nicknamed Tarzan by Stoltz’s friends, and mother Liesbeth, on their farm Roodewalshoek in Mpumalanga.

Stoltz says his biggest regret is not training with a coach earlier in his career. He feels the first seven years he was either over trained, injured or both and regrets the waste of talent – something he clearly has an abundance of. Now armed with two decades of experience and a great coach in South African Ian Rodgers, Stoltz enjoys mentoring young athletes.

Acclaimed as a popular, down-to-earth and humble athlete, Stoltz is living up to the meaning of his Germanic surname. Stoltz means proud – and there’s no doubt that all South Africans can be proud of this triathlete and ambassador.

His future plans include getting off-road triathlons accepted as a sport for the next Olympics – and to win it at age 41! When he’s done with professional triathlons Stoltz plans to continue to participate in triathlons for fun, to stay involved in product research and development for the sport, and to spend more time on his much-neglected properties, which he calls his pension fund.