In a nation where sport unites and inspires, 10 powerful figures stand at the forefront, shaping the landscape of South African sport. These are the men – yes, all men – whose influence, wealth, and strategic prowess drive change, secure funding, and elevate sport to new heights. From visionary administrators and celebrated athletes to savvy sponsors and media moguls, these are the individuals who get things done.
Gayton McKenzie
Gayton McKenzie has had the most extraordinary ride to his place as the nominal boss of South African sport.
He’s glad-handed almost every athlete of consequence in South Africa, turning on a charm offensive of gold medal standard. He’s schmoozed Olympic champions and embraced Springboks. He’s very much the smiling face of local sport, although his excesses can be hard to stomach – witness his photo-bomb of the Boks in Nelspruit.
His populist sound bites go down a treat, but the jury is still out on his effectiveness.
He hasn’t done very much beyond shouting out soundbites which the media and public are happy to be seduced by.
Happily, he embarked on a public weight-loss programme that helped do away with the stigma of being large and in charge. He is able to laugh at himself – something few politicians can muster – and he’s warm-hearted among ordinary citizens. But the real work beckons.
Johann Rupert
As the chairman of Richemont, a luxury goods conglomerate, Johann Rupert possesses immense financial resources. This wealth allows him to invest heavily in various sporting endeavours, including rugby, golf, and horse racing. His support often involves sponsoring teams, events, and infrastructure development.
Rupert’s position as a prominent businessman and philanthropist grants him access to a wide network of influential individuals, connections that enable him to leverage his resources and influence to shape the landscape of SA sport, and also international golf. He quietly advocates for policies, supports initiatives, and facilitates partnerships.
Perhaps his finest achievement has come in local golf, by far the best run sport in South Africa. His investments across a range of initiatives and projects have borne massive success and he continues to shape shift SA sport.
Imtiaz Patel
Since the mid-2000s, as then chief executive of SuperSport, Imtiaz Patel has wielded enormous power across domestic sport.
Even when elevated to chairman of MultiChoice, a position he recently relinquished, his hand was behind almost every significant broadcast deal made by SuperSport. Well connected and possessed of razor-sharp intellect, plus a helpful understanding of the hazardous local business (and political) environment, he has the ability to get the right people in the room. He even has Rassie Erasmus’ ear.
He’s a consummate dealmaker and was at the heart of the business when SuperSport cut a trail across Africa.
Few know it, but Patel was among the pioneers of the successful T20 cricket format and was behind the transformative broadcast deal with the Professional Football League, perhaps the single most significant event in the history of SA football.
The broadcaster was, and remains, the biggest funder of sport across the continent, which ensures that a figure like Patel is influential, even in his dotage. With rights often running into tens of millions of dollars, the power of SuperSport to both nourish and energise local sport is second to none.
Rian Oberholzer
Rian Oberholzer has had two lives in rugby administration.
He was chief executive of SA Rugby at the turn of the millennium. Over two decades later, and now in his early 60s, he is at the helm of SA Rugby again.
In the interim, he turned his hand to sports management, ran a successful agency and quietly influenced those who needed to be influenced.
Anyone who can navigate the highways and byways of SA and world rugby as astutely as Oberholzer is a man to be respected. One of his early successes was running the outstanding 1995 World Cup, probably easier than negotiating the high wire of rugby politics. He is an astute manager and visionary and has acted as a stand-in fireman on several occasions, rugby’s version of Red Adair (although rather more dapper).
Despite his boyish looks, he can play hard ball with the best of them and is known as a tough negotiator. When you look beyond the suit and tie, he is a man who gets things done. Whatever it takes.
Irvin Khoza
Little happens in SA football without the say-so of Irvin Khoza.
The man known as “Iron Duke” has been a pivotal figure in SA football, and by extension South African life, for the past 30 years.
He helped build Orlando Pirates into a mega-club, one of the two football giants of Soweto, and as chairman of the Professional Soccer League (which he helped originate in 1996) was the chief architect of the SuperSport broadcast deal that transformed the PSL into a powerhouse. He was also one of the key figures behind the success of the 2010 World Cup,
Under his stewardship, Orlando Pirates has enjoyed considerable achievement, winning multiple league titles and continental trophies.
He doesn’t suffer fools easily and is a shrewd negotiator who generally gets what he wants. The years haven’t markedly slowed him and even at 76 he continues to innovate and assert his power over the domestic game.
Siya Kolisi
Siya Kolisi’s influence in South African sport is rooted in his rugby skills, leadership qualities, his place as a role model, his social activism, and global recognition. Ever smiling, he has become a symbol of unity, hope, and inspiration for many South Africans.
His success derives from him being a key figure in the Springboks’ success, leading them to two Rugby World Cup titles. But what elevates him is his understanding of having a larger role to play, something duly recognised by him being named on TIME Magazine’s TIME100 list for 2024.
His humble upbringing and his rise to become a world-class rugby player make him a relatable and inspiring figure. He has also used his platform to raise awareness of social issues, such as poverty, inequality, GBV and racism. He has been vocal about the importance of education and has supported various charitable initiatives, his activism having helped to position him as a leader beyond the world of sport.
He is the most popular sporting figure in South Africa, easily the most well-known internationally.
Shameel Joosub
Shameel Joosub, the chief executive of Vodacom, might be the least well-known name on this list among sport devotees. But his business’ deep pockets give him standing as a pivotal figure in the landscape of South African sport.
His journey began in 1994 when he joined the group, and since taking the helm at Vodacom in 2012, he has transformed the company into a cornerstone of sport sponsorship in the country.
Joosub isn’t overtly a sports fan, but his connection to the market is significant. He understands what drives his customers, and how important the link is to what matters to them: sport, and its heroes.
Under his leadership, Vodacom has significantly invested in various sports, enhancing the profiles of rugby, cricket, and football through strategic partnerships. The company has sponsored the likes of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates since 1998, as well as the Vodacom Bulls and Vodacom United Rugby Championship, demonstrating a long-standing dedication to SA sport.
George Rautenbach
George Rautenbach is the Group CEO of Megapro Holdings, a pioneering force in South Africa’s sports marketing industry since its inception in 1986.
He doesn’t actively court the limelight, but is a vital dealmaker whose fingerprints adorn most of the major sport rights deals that go down in South Africa. A former rugby lock big in size, he has the personality to match. He even took on rugby boss Louis Luyt years ago, unafraid of Luyt’s bullying style.
There’s no mistaking his ability to deliver. He is super-connected, and gets things done.
Under his leadership, Megapro has expanded from a small rights management company to a leading provider of sponsorship sales, corporate hospitality, and advertising services across various sport and entertainment platforms.
A former captain of the SA Schools rugby team, Rautenbach understands the importance of collaboration, a vision that has helped his business unlock the commercial value of sport and entertainment like few others.
Patrice Motsepe
With his immense wealth, Patrice Motsepe has turned Sundowns into a South African mega-club, finally breaking the decades-long monopoly of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
He has strong political connections – President Cyril Ramaphosa is his brother-in-law – and is a canny businessman, among the richest in Africa.
His benevolence extends to rugby, having bought a 37 percent stake in the Blue Bulls five years ago. He also sponsors the first and second divisions of SA football.
Notwithstanding his prominence in business, he has big ambitions in sport. Witness his elevation to the presidency of the Confederation of African Football in 2021 where Fifa president Gianni Infantino was an active ally.
Earlier this year he was in talks with Canal+ to join its bid to purchase MultiChoice, yet another indication of his emboldened vision.
By leveraging his wealth, connections, business skills, passion, and leadership roles, Motsepe has quickly become a powerful figure sport across the continent.
Danny Jordaan
His power may be on the wane – he was in court last week on allegations of fraud and theft – but Jordaan’s shadow still looms large.
The high point of his career was easily the 2010 World Cup.
The SA Football Association president traversed the globe seeking support for South Africa’s bid, met with those that mattered and ultimately sealed the deal when the successful bid was announced 20 years ago.
Jordaan was in his pomp then, an administrator of reckoning and pivotal to the success of the event.
He has, however, lost his shine in subsequent years. There was a rape allegation in 2017, a raid on the SAFA offices by the Hawks in early 2024 and a dossier, admittedly unsigned, that makes claims of abuse of power and maladministration.
Being under fire comes with the territory and Jordaan, a politician by nature and instinct, is a survivor.
Even at 73, his determination to power on is undimmed. He is currently seeking a fourth term as president of SAFA, even as it continues to muddle its way through football with no apparent vision or energy.
Rassie Erasmus
It might appear heresy to include a rugby coach on a list of major influencers, but Rassie Erasmus has transcended the normal duties of a coach.
His significance in South African public life is well established and he continues to earn plaudits for his success with the world champion Springboks. Quirky and unorthodox, he’s an earthy straight shooter who says it as he sees it. Having won World Cups, a Lions series and the Rugby Championship, his rugby intellect is unquestioned, but his greatest achievement was his transformation of the Springboks. They are not only diverse, but innovative, two labels you would not have stuck on them in the first 100 years.
Erasmus famously asked only one thing when he was urged to win the 2019 World Cup: “Just get out of our way,” he told his bosses, who smartly agreed. Such has been Erasmus’ success that he can get anything he asks for.
