Boks in big push for Table Mountain

The Springboks want to see Table Mountain among the new Seven Wonders of Nature, and the national rugby squad, including Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira and captain John Smit, have endorsed the campaign. Photo: Matthew Jordaan

The Springboks want to see Table Mountain among the new Seven Wonders of Nature, and the national rugby squad, including Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira and captain John Smit, have endorsed the campaign. Photo: Matthew Jordaan

Published Jul 14, 2011

Share

THE SPRINGBOKS are rallying to move mountains – in this case, Table Mountain.

They want to see the landmark among the new Seven Wonders of Nature, and the national rugby squad, including Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira and captain John Smit, have endorsed the campaign.

Table Mountain needs to beat 21 of the 27 other natural sites from around the world, including the Amazon, the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef, to make it into the final seven.

Table Mountain is one of only two candidates from sub-Saharan Africa. The other is Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Along with Smit and Mtawarira, the new Springbok ambassadors include Schalk Burger, Butch James, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Andries Bekker, Morne Steyn, Jannie du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp and coach Peter de Villiers.

“I promise we’ll win the World Cup if you promise to vote for Table Mountain,” De Villiers said.

The Boks will be drumming up support for votes ahead of the Tri-Nations tournament, which starts next Saturday in Sydney. Their campaign will continue through the Rugby World Cup, which starts in September.

Smit urged all South Africans to put some time aside to vote for Table Mountain.

Bok wing Habana said: “I live in Cape Town now and have been up the mountain many times.

“Let’s all get behind our mountain, vote for Table Mountain today.”

Other ambassadors for the mountain include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Miss South Africa Jo-Ann Strauss and TV personality Liezel van der Westhuizen.

Sabine Lehmann, chairwoman of the Table Mountain Bid Committee, said there would never be another election like it.

Once the final seven are decided, that will be that.

“South Africans have to make sure that our flat-topped wonder makes it into the final seven,” she said..

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a legacy, an opportunity that we can’t ignore.”

*

To vote for Table Mountain, visit www.votefortable mountain.com for free, or SMS “Table” to 34874 (R2 per SMS). Voting closes on November 11.

Related Topics: