Durban — Isibonelo Secondary School in KwaMashu rallied behind the rugby national team, the Springboks, and won.
The school entered the MTN Gwijo Challenge and won a share of R1 million.
Isibonelo Secondary drama pupils, together with teachers, created a Gwijo song called Phambili Ngama BokoBoko within 30 minutes, which saw them presented with a R200 000 cheque by MTN on Wednesday after making it to the top three out of 140 schools as third runner-up.
In the MTN Gwijo Challenge, South African schools were encouraged to show their support by creating an authentic Gwijo anthem to support the Springboks during their World Cup campaign.
Isibonelo principal Sthembiso Ntuli said it was a historical day for the school as it showed everything was possible through teamwork.
“This is a historical day for us. Thank you so much MTN. All of this was through teamwork. Two boys came to me and told me about the Gwijo challenge to support the Springboks. I then asked Miss Mbhele to attend to them. They then came out with the song in 30 minutes to make this video. After that, we posted the video and it then trended. This is also a lesson that everything is achievable through teamwork,” said Ntuli.
Ntuli added that they will have a meeting with the school governing body and parents to discuss how they are going to spend the money.
KwaZulu-Natal MTN regional marketing manager Portia Zondi said it was a very proud moment for KZN.
“I’m very proud of Isibonelo Secondary. What amazes me the most is that in this school they don’t play rugby and have little rugby knowledge. They have put KZN MTN on the map. This competition was open to all South African schools. After seeing the high numbers of the participants we asked former Springboks, rugby analysts who understand this sport,” said Zondi.
Former Springbok player Akhona Ndungane, who was one of the judges, said the initiative played an influential role in the Springbok World Cup win.
“Players like Siya Kolisi watch these videos to draw inspiration. We even heard how appreciative he was of the support,” said Ndungane.
Drama, art and creative teacher Nomfundo Mbhele said coming up with a song was not easy and they had to change the song twice.
“We were called on at the last minute to come up with a song and create a video. We had zero knowledge of rugby at that moment. We then called a drama student to create a song. We first created Phambili Nge War, but after searching on the internet to get some clues we then changed it to Phambili Ngama BokoBoko,” said Mbhele.
The second runner-up was Shawbury Senior Secondary School, winning R300 000. The first prize winner was Solomon Mahlangu Secondary School, scooping R500 000. Both schools were from the Eastern Cape.
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