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By Bogosi Motshegwa, Chief Executive - Thinkerneur Sustainable Impact
Great post, Sanele Majola.
This article was inspired by a post by Sanele Majola, who shared perspective on losing. Here is the original post. (Click here to see)
If losing teaches us invaluable lessons, maybe we should continue losing. No?
I have thought... what if... Imagine this... just maybe; what if we continue to lose, this may force us to focus on the issues that are holding us back as a country, and not mask or sweep everything under the carpet - this happens each time we amplify the sporting hype. Maybe, just maybe, we should lose more often for the next 5 years. Sporting success may be creating a false sense of success for us as a country.
What if losing is blinding us and making us lose sight of what is truly important?
I feel like each we succeed in Sports, there's a false sense of "Mara South Africa is not that bad hey" or "South Africa is the greatest country in the world" feelings, which covers us like warm cuddly blanket - only for a moment. On a random Tuesday; when there is no sport, the blanket that covers this country is full dust mites, rats, is wet, dirty and reeks of scents that could knock you straight into ICU.
Maybe, just maybe. Losing in sport may lead to us directing our focus on winning what really matters as a country. I think we are clutching too much to our sports as crutch to our general failing state.
On a day-to-day basis; South Africa is sitting on a wheelchair, but each time we do well in sports, we stand on two crutches, which creates the illusion of our ability to walk. Kanti nooooh, we still can't walk on our own. This wheelchair metaphor, for some, it is metaphorical, but for many, it is literal.
South Africa is indeed the greatest country in the history of countries, but what if that translated into areas that really matter?
I think; we should also try to be the world champions of turning our economic situation around. Wouldn't it be nice to be the world's best nation for having reduced every single metric that is holding us back?
Since the dawn of Democracy, Sport has always been intertwined with Politics. If Sport is the catalyst that brings us together as a nation, what if we somehow used our winning spree into currency that makes our country better?
What if Sport had a direct impact on daily lives? What if The proteas men and women, The Springboks, Bafana Bafana, Banyana Banyana, etc...; their winnings made someone's life better.
With that, maybe losing isn't the solution, and we are South Africa, we are not going to tolerate any losing around here. So what if we won; but what if winning actually meant something for the broader country?
We will call this a win-win situation. When the Springboks win, South Africa wins. #WinWinSituation
A Win-Win Situation for the country through sport (The National Sporting Sponsorship Strategy)
Here is the solution that I think could have a profound impact on the country, and give a whole new meaning to 'No DNA, just RSA' and 'Doing it for my country' or 'Raising the country's flag'
Imagine this - using South African Rugby Union (SA Rugby) as case example:
The Springboks have so many sponsors - it would seem brands love those that win. How many sponsors are too much for any team? With this, what I would refer to as the unofficial 'National Sporting Sponsorship Strategy' (NSSS or N triple S strategy), the more sponsors the Springboks have or amass, the more our country would win through NSSS. Let me explain.
All the players (in our recent memory, when the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup); proclaim to be doing it for the country and to be giving hope? What if winning as a country at national sport level meant more than just the raising of flag and more than just representing the respective badges (whether Proteas or Springbok badges)? What if winning at national level, truly meant that the country and its people also won on the ground?
Imagine if each time our national team won; sponsors gave immediate donations which would go into uplifting the lives of people? We can work out where the money comes from (don't get caught up in the detail yet - just think about the idea in principle - but if I were to give a practical example, Coca-Cola is currently running a promotional campaign where the iconic red can has been redesigned to dawn the green and gold of the Springbok, borrowing from the 'Name on a coke can campaign': What if proceeds from those specific cans would be donated to courses and initiatives that would move our country forward? I'm literally just spit balling and haven't spent a lot of time on this idea, but if we applied ourselves, we could really think of impactful ways to collate all funds and resources and feed them to where they are most needed.
By doing so; this means that sponsors like Coca-Cola, Betway (who are behind the Boks), FNB, Nike, Spur, Vodacom who've recently come on board, and many others, each time the Springboks win, communities, women, children and relevant stakeholders win? This would take national sponsorship to a whole new level. We would literally become the first country to use sports as catalyst and conduit to building and growing our nation. When I start thinking about the growth of a country; brands such as Standard Bank come to mind, because of their brand positioning which is about the growth of the country.
Not only will sponsors be backing the Springboks to win, their sponsorship would simultaneously back or support communities, people and stakeholders that win. When I think of concepts such as backing you, African Bank comes to mind, as their promise is to back people in order for them to advance their lives.
If you are asking yourself how can Standard Bank and African Bank come on board when FNB is the official sponsor of the Springboks? Well that's easy to resolve. At Thinkerneur, one of our core values is collaboration. When dealing with huge systemic issues, there's no time and room to be precious about being competitive, because the social issues we fail are bigger than any commercial objective or goal.
Watch the clip below of Siya Kolisi, explaining what winning means for South Africa:
"It's not just about the game, on the field. Our country goes through… such a lot. We are bearing that hope, that they have…" - Siya Kolisi's post match interview after winning the Rugby World Cup Final in 2023
A win-win for who? Of course, Siya said it; it's a win for the people of South Africa, as much as it is a win for the players
The National Sporting Sponsorship Strategy will turn hope into solutions that have Sustainable Impact.
The biggest stakeholder when it comes to national sports is the people. The fans. The citizens. That's who the players say they do it for, and as such; what if the benefits expanded beyond the good feeling, the cheers, the roars, and ecstatic celebration?
What if the impact of the win doesn't fade into nothingness when the stadia are turned into empty shells once every human leaves? What if the impact of the win bleeds into homes and communities? What if the lasting impact isn't just the statistics that become records, but we record new statics of changed lives with each win? What if we could trace each win to a life transformed for better?
If Castle Lager endorsed this message; "Here's to more cheers, here's to more lives being changed" - Bogosi Motshegwa
Then; playing for South Africa will truly mean playing for the people
Who knows, the pride for playing for any national team or representing South Africa at a national level will start to mean 'playing for the people, literally'.
Each player that plays for the national team plays for their local or international teams at a domestic level, and that's where players are selected. Imagine a call up not only meaning that players will wear the and green and gold, but it also becomes a pledge to improve the lives of South Africans.
Wouldn't that be a meaningful layer to add to the already pride laden reasons to play for your country?
Imagine if the National Sporting Sponsorship Strategy was in place prior to the Springboks' two last world cup wins? How many lives would have been changed?
Now with Betway behind the Boks, how many lives would be improved?
So, how does it work? (Beyond sponsorship and sponsors - Getting each stakeholder involved!
National Sport is made up of various stakeholders, the fans beiong the biggest. But… sport doesn't just happen in isolation. There are key players involved. For example, its the fans, the sponsors and broadcast media. Imagine this…
Imagine this - what if we could productise this through various stakeholders of national sports? What if, the way we thought about this, each stakeholders involvement brought value?
For example: What if we could create value from all the eyeballs and time spent on watching sports, something has got to give. We must get something out as a country (imagine OUTSurance as a sponsor for this) - each time we win, South African communities and people get something out?
Value-tising national sports
The fans:
If we can value-tise the watching of sports, that would be amazing. This is what I call, ”Fandom as currency". What if, the simple act of going to a stadium or even watching TV could be captured as value for impact and legacy?
Fandom as currency is but one stakeholder. This means that can then look at each stakeholder and ask ourselves; "What and how can we *value-tise* the existence and involvement of each stakeholder?”
Broadcast media:
Example - Broadcast: The question that we would ask is; how can SuperSport’s existence bring value? How do we *value-tise* their existence and involvement for the greater good?
They too, just like how watching sports can bring value, how can the broadcasting of sports go beyond live broadcast, commentary and highlights, to provide more than just stats?
For each stakeholder, especially those active in the value chain, how do we turn what they bring to the table into tangible value for communities? How each game broadcast bring value to even those who cannot afford to watch?
To simplify the how - this is the productisation of national sports
To simplify:
Fandom as a currency:
Watching sports is no longer just a personal or group exercise amongst friends, families and communities, because it will bring instant value.
What if tickets sales also meant that a community’s or child’s life becomes better? Imagine if a percentage or proceeds from ticket sales were invested in finding the next Siya Kolisi? That means, each time a fan buys a ticket, a life is changed instantly, forever.
This is what I call; Impact and legacy today. We could change the face of our country today, not in a decade's time, but today.
Broadcasting as currency:
The media can’t the media be turned into currency? How can the broadcasting of national sports be packaged into instant value?
How can we value-tise the involvement of SuperSport for the betterment of community? How does the mere broadcasting of a sporting game generate value for South African fans and communities, especially those in need?
Sponsorship as currency:
This is essentially what I've mentioned above. The Sponsorship of our national sports by big brands or corporates must translate into tangible value for the greater good. The Springboks winning spree must be converted into tangible value.
Winning at the frequency and scale must mean something beyond the cheers and feel good energy. Each excitement must be packaged for greater value.
The value-tising of each stakeholder is the productisation of sports beyond the field, for legacy. To make South Africa better.
I think the face of national sporting will never be the same.
Why this makes so much sense
At Thinkerneur Sustainable Impact; we believe that corporates can achieve their bottom line goals (be profitable), and also leave communities, people, the environment and societies at large, better than they found them. This national sporting sponsorship strategy; if implemented, could be a game changer.
How much more motivated would the players be; if they knew that, officially, each time they go onto the field, a child's life for example, would change immediately after 80 minutes? How much more motivated would South Africans be, to know that each time we win, our cheers would not only be for the try or the win, but the cheers and screaming would be for our country becoming better with each win?
This would be applicable to football, cricket, Netball, Swimming, track and field, including UFC. This would be for any kind of sport that has national representation on a global stage.
In summary
What started as a post by Sanele has given me the idea of how we can make sports and not just sports in general, but our national success as both a catalyst and a conduit to truly make South Africa great.
The National Sporting Sponsorship Strategy (NSSS) is a way to leverage the success of our country as a national asset (like how Gold, Diamonds and other minerals, and our human talent such as Trevor Noah are good for the country), in order to impact our overall national brand equity.
The power losing holds valuable lessons, and the power of winning brings powerful solutions to our socio-economic status. This means, whether we lose or win, it's a win-win situation. With such a mindset; only in South Ahh.
Women lie, men lie, but numbers don't
Some of these numbers may be statistics that we don't think about on a daily basis, but they affect a lot of people.
As such; this national sporting sponsorship strategy solution isn't a feel good idea, South Africa is in a dire state (if you don't think not believe that we are in trouble, you are probably living better off than most people), and we need drastic or innovative solutions, and as Thinkerneur, we hope the National Sporting Sponsorship Strategy is either.
See references for why we need this type of thinking and solution:
Job losses in recent time (Stats SA)
Specifically, 23% of children in South Africa are classified as being in severe child food poverty, putting them at risk of life-threatening malnutrition (The Voice of the Cape)
Homelessness in South Africa varies across its nine provinces. Gauteng, the country’s economic hub, has the highest proportion of homeless individuals, with 46% of the national total (Stats SA)
55.5% of the population, or 30.4 million people, were living below the upper poverty line in March 2025 (According to stats SA)
"25 Million people are without work" - Unemployment remains a major challenge, with the official unemployment rate at 31.9% in Q4 2024 (According to IOL)
Video reference - link