Springbok captain Siya Kolisi had another inspiring message for South Africans after winning the People’s Choice Sports Star award at the SA Sport Awards in Durban on Sunday night.
The loose forward completed a triumphant nationwide tour with his Bok teammates in Cape Town yesterday, proudly displaying the World Cup trophy to ecstatic supporters.
Kolisi said: “We are such a beautiful country. When we decide on a goal or a dream as a nation, we can achieve it. Our team is diverse. We’ve got different backgrounds and races and we decided to fight for one common thing.
“We can also do it in life and business. We just have to put our egos aside and fight for what is right, so that South Africa can be better.
“I want to be remembered for the lives that I’ve touched in my lifetime and for the people that I’ve helped, because at the end of the day, someone will break all my rugby achievements.
“But if I can change one person’s life, that will make me happy.”
Kolisi beat the likes of Percy Tau, Gerda Steyn and Thembi Kgatlana for the award, and said that he “really appreciates the love”.
“This award is huge. I want to thank the people of South Africa once again for voting for me. I really appreciate the love. I want to thank them for believing in my dream, and what I want to do for the country and what we are trying to do as a team,” he added.
“We are playing against some of the countries that don’t always understand what we go through and that we have to dig deep to overcome all the challenges that we face in life as well.
“It was time that the country had something to smile about. The country got behind us, and we decided to go further and not worry about ourselves. We had to focus on what the country needed,” Kolisi said.
@minenhlecr7
Cape Times
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