Siyabonga Mkabela
“We can achieve anything if we work together as one.” Those were the words Siya Kolisi spoke after lifting the Rugby World Cup trophy in Yokohama, Japan, in 2019. He was not talking about rugby. He was talking about South Africa. That distinction is everything.
Siya Kolisi is more than a rugby player. He is the first Black captain in the 126-year history of the Springboks, a two-time Rugby World Cup winner, a humanitarian, a father, and one of the most recognisable South African figures in the world today. His story is not a sports story. It is a South African story, stitched together from poverty, resilience, sacrifice, and an almost improbable rise to global prominence. In a country still wrestling with the long shadow of apartheid, Siya Kolisi’s early life, career highlights, and public legacy carry a weight that goes far beyond any scoreline.
Early Life and Background: Zwide, Bare Feet, and a Borrowed Brick
Siyamthanda Kolisi was born on 16 June 1991 in Zwide, a township in what was then known as Port Elizabeth and is now called Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The date itself carries symbolism. 16 June is Youth Day in South Africa, the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, when Black students rose against the apartheid government. It is a date burned into the national consciousness.
His parents were barely adults themselves when he arrived. His mother, Phakama, was just 16 years old. His father, Fezakele, was finishing his final year of school. Neither was in a position to raise a child, and from an early age Siya was raised by his grandmother in conditions of deep poverty. There was rarely enough food. He would go to school without shoes and without lunch. His childhood toy, as he has recalled publicly, was a brick. Not a metaphor. An actual brick.
Phakama passed away in 2009, adding grief to an already difficult early life. Despite this, she remains central to Siya’s identity. The Kolisi Foundation’s flagship education and sport programme in Zwide is named Siyaphakama, combining his name with hers. In isiXhosa, it means “We Are Rising.”
Rugby found Siya by accident, or perhaps by providence. At Emsengeni Primary School, a teacher noticed him and encouraged him to try the sport. He was exceptional from the start. That natural talent earned him a scholarship to Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, one of the most prestigious rugby schools in South Africa. Moving from a Zwide township household where bread was a luxury to an elite school with manicured fields was a cultural collision that Kolisi has spoken about honestly. He did not always have the right uniform. He did not always fit in. But he played, and he excelled.
At Grey High School, he developed into a technically gifted loose forward with unusual leadership qualities. The school later honoured him by renaming its main rugby field “The Kolisi Field” in 2022, a full-circle moment that speaks volumes about how far one young man from Zwide had traveled.
Career Journey: From Western Province to World Champion, Twice
Siya Kolisi’s professional career began with Eastern Province Kings at youth level, before he moved to the Western Province system in Cape Town, where he developed into an elite Super Rugby player with the Stormers from 2012. He became a consistent, intelligent, and aggressive flanker, whose reading of the game set him apart.
His debut for the Springboks came in 2013. For several years he was a reliable contributor to the national squad without yet holding the captaincy. That changed in 2018 when newly appointed Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus named Kolisi as captain ahead of a Test series against England. The decision landed like a thunderclap. No Black player had ever held that position in the Springboks’ history. Bryan Habana, the former Springbok wing of mixed race, called it “a monumental moment for South African rugby and a moment in South African history.”
What followed under Kolisi’s captaincy was extraordinary. In 2019, he led South Africa to the Rugby World Cup title in Japan, defeating England 32-12 in the final. The image of Kolisi, a man who had grown up without enough food, lifting the Webb Ellis Cup was broadcast around the world and stopped South Africans of every background in their tracks. President Cyril Ramaphosa was reduced to tears. Streets emptied. The country, fractured along so many lines, found a moment of unity.
In 2021, Kolisi led the Springboks to a series victory over the British and Irish Lions. In 2023, he did what no South African captain had done before: he led the Springboks to a second consecutive Rugby World Cup title, defeating New Zealand in the final in Paris. He became only the second captain in history to win back-to-back World Cups. South Africa was now a four-time world champion, the most in the history of the tournament.
Between those peaks, Kolisi moved from the Stormers to the Sharks in 2021, before signing with French Top 14 club Racing 92 in 2023. The stint in France was brief. By late 2024, the contract was ended by mutual agreement, with reports pointing to homesickness, Springbok duty logistics, and the physical demands of French club rugby. He returned to the Sharks and, in a nod to where it all began, was also linked with a return to the Stormers in Cape Town.
His statistical footprint over the Rassie Erasmus era is staggering. He has featured in 28 of the Springboks’ 30 biggest wins over an eight-year period during which the team has won at a 72% rate across 88 Tests. He is not just a figurehead captain. He plays. He leads from the front.
In April 2023, the South African government awarded him the Order of Ikhamanga, one of the country’s highest state honours, for his contributions to rugby and to national identity. In 2024, TIME Magazine named him among the 100 Most Influential People in the world.
His autobiography, “Rise,” published in 2021, is widely regarded as one of the standout sports memoirs of the decade. It traces his journey from Zwide with honesty and generosity, written not as a victory lap but as an invitation for others to believe their own story is worth telling.
For current statistics and career records, the official World Rugby profile provides a comprehensive breakdown: https://www.world.rugby/players/103041
Personal Life and Public Image: The Man Behind the Green Jersey
Siya Kolisi married Rachel Smith in 2016. Rachel, a South African entrepreneur raised in Grahamstown (now Makhanda), brought her own backstory to the relationship, and together they became one of the most publicly visible couples in the country. They had two biological children: a son, Nicholas Siyamthanda, born in 2014, and a daughter, Keziah, born in 2017. When Siya’s mother passed away in 2009, his younger half-siblings Liyema and Liphelo entered the care system. Since 2014, the Kolisi family have raised Liyema and Liphelo as their own, a decision made without fanfare and one that speaks to the values at the core of who Siya Kolisi is.
In October 2024, Siya and Rachel announced that they were ending their marriage. Their public statement was composed and dignified, emphasising a commitment to co-parenting and to continuing their joint work through the Kolisi Foundation. It was, by any measure, a very public moment handled with unusual grace.
Kolisi is an open Christian and has spoken freely about how his faith sustained him through some of the most difficult periods of his life. He is also a Liverpool FC supporter, a fact that has earned him fans in parts of England who might otherwise struggle to name a Springbok.
His public persona is defined by warmth and accessibility. He does not perform humility. It appears to be genuine. He has spoken candidly about the psychological burden of being a symbol, about the pressure of representing something far larger than a rugby match, and about the moments when that weight became almost unbearable. That honesty has only deepened public affection for him.
Legacy and Impact: What Siya Kolisi Actually Changed
It is easy to reduce what Kolisi represents to a feel-good narrative about sport overcoming politics. That would be a mistake. South Africa in 2018, when he was made captain, was a country in which the wounds of apartheid were anything but historical. Black South Africans were, and remain, economically marginalised in ways that no single appointment can undo. The Springboks themselves carried the weight of a complicated past, having been a symbol of white South Africa for most of their existence.
Against that backdrop, Kolisi’s captaincy and subsequent success did something complicated and powerful. It did not pretend the inequality had disappeared. It insisted, through action rather than statement, that it was no barrier to greatness. The distinction matters. He did not win despite being from Zwide. He won as a person from Zwide.
Internationally, his profile elevated South African rugby at a moment when the country’s standing on the global stage had been battered by years of political scandal, corruption scandals, and economic contraction. When Kolisi spoke after World Cup victories, the world listened. Not because he was diplomatic. Because he was real.
Why Siya Kolisi Is a Big Deal
Let us be direct about this. Siya Kolisi matters for at least three distinct reasons.
First, on pure sporting grounds. He is the most successful captain in Springbok history. He has led South Africa to two World Cups, a Lions series, three Rugby Championships, and numerous other honours. He has been present for 28 of his country’s 30 biggest wins in eight years. By any objective measure, he is one of the greatest rugby captains the game has produced.
Second, as a cultural and political symbol. In a democracy still defined by the inequalities of its apartheid past, a Black man from a township leading the national rugby team to back-to-back world championships carries meaning that transcends sport. His story is cited in schools, in political speeches, in charity fundraisers, and in conversations about what South Africa can still become.
Third, as a humanitarian actor. This is not honorary. The Kolisi Foundation is a functioning organisation doing documented work on food security, gender-based violence, and education in some of the country’s most under-resourced communities. Kolisi did not simply lend his name to a charity. He and Rachel built something with intention and infrastructure.
Humanitarian Work: The Kolisi Foundation
In March 2020, as COVID-19 began tearing through South Africa’s already strained social fabric, Siya and Rachel Kolisi launched the Kolisi Foundation. The timing was not coincidental. It was urgent.
The Foundation’s initial focus was food security. Working through community-based organisations across the country, it delivered grocery parcels monthly to child-headed households, orphans, and families in the most vulnerable communities. Rather than building its own operational infrastructure from scratch, the Foundation chose to partner with established NGOs, amplifying their capacity rather than duplicating it. This approach reflected a mature understanding of how social change actually works.
Over time, the Foundation’s work expanded. The Siyaphakama Zwide Schools Project, its flagship education and sport initiative, operates in Zwide, Gqeberha, directly in the neighbourhood where Kolisi grew up. It provides physical education programming, after-school sports leagues, breakfast nutrition support, and skills development for young coordinators. The name of the project, as noted above, honours both Siya and his late mother Phakama.
The Foundation also funds gender-based violence interventions, including a 24-hour trauma support line and social work support through partner organisations in communities where GBV is a devastating everyday reality. South Africa has among the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world. The Kolisi Foundation does not look away from that.
Kolisi Connect, a further arm of the Foundation, creates a platform for NGOs and community organisations to share knowledge, network, and build collaborative capacity. It is, in effect, an infrastructure play for civil society.
The Foundation was established with backing from corporate partners including Investec, which has supported its work as a committed sponsor. Learn more or donate at kolisifoundation.org.
Net Worth
As of 2025, Siya Kolisi’s net worth is estimated at approximately £5 million (roughly R120 million at current exchange rates), though estimates vary across sources. During his stint at Racing 92 in France, he reportedly earned in the region of R18 million to R20 million per season, making him one of the highest-paid South African rugby players in history. Upon returning to the Sharks for the 2024-25 season, his reported annual income is approximately R18.6 million.
His off-field portfolio is substantial. He has brand partnerships with Investec, Land Rover, Puma, Tag Heuer, and Mr Price Sport, among others. These endorsement relationships reflect his global appeal and his credibility as a spokesperson for both excellence and purpose.
Spoken Languages
Siya Kolisi is multilingual, as is common for South Africans who grew up in multilingual communities. He speaks isiXhosa as his mother tongue, English fluently, and has working knowledge of Afrikaans. His comfort in English has made him an effective communicator on the international stage, whether in post-match press conferences, documentary interviews, or keynote addresses.
Countries Travelled
Through his professional rugby career and humanitarian work, Kolisi has travelled extensively. His club career alone took him through South Africa, France, and the United Kingdom. World Cup campaigns brought him to Japan (2019) and France (2023), with prior tournaments and international test matches taking him to Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and across Europe and the Americas. He has also travelled to various African countries for development and foundation-related activities.
Food and Cultural Preferences
Siya Kolisi has spoken warmly about traditional Eastern Cape and Xhosa food. Umngqusho, a dish of samp and beans that is a staple in many South African households, features prominently in his recollections of home. Braai culture, central to South African identity across every community, is also very much part of how he speaks about food, family, and gathering. Given his upbringing in a household where food was scarce, there is a particular reverence in the way he speaks about simple, home-cooked meals.
Family Background
Kolisi’s family story is not uncomplicated, and he has never tried to make it so. Born to a teenage mother and a father who was also barely an adult, he was raised primarily by his grandmother in Zwide. His mother Phakama died in 2009. His half-siblings Liyema and Liphelo, after passing through orphanages and foster care in Port Elizabeth, joined the Kolisi family household from 2014 onward. His aunt’s daughter Tatjana Smith, who competed as a swimmer and became a prominent South African athlete in her own right, is connected to the family through his former marriage to Rachel.
What this family portrait conveys is something the statistics and trophies cannot: this is a man who knows what it means to be failed by systems, and who has chosen to build structures, personal and institutional, that do not repeat those failures.
A Closing Thought
There is a version of the Siya Kolisi story that is purely inspirational, designed to make people feel good and send them away with a warm sense that anything is possible. That version is true but incomplete.
The fuller version is more challenging. It acknowledges that for every Siya Kolisi who receives a scholarship and finds a path out of a South African township, there are thousands who do not. It acknowledges that structural inequality does not yield to individual excellence, however remarkable. Kolisi himself understands this, which is why he spends considerable time and resources trying to change the structures, not just inspire people to overcome them.
“I don’t want kids to grow up like I did,” he has said. “I want things to be better for them.”
That is not a rugby quote. That is a social contract. And it raises the question that Kolisi’s entire life and career puts back to South Africa, and to anyone paying attention from outside its borders.
What kind of country, what kind of world, are we actually building for the children who are right now where Siya Kolisi once was?
Editorial
Phumlane Dlamini