The red carpet is ready to be rolled, the champagne is getting frosty on ice, and the confetti will be unleashed in a matter of hours when the 2024 SA Sports Awards roll into the ostentatious Sun City Superbowl this evening.
Exquisite, VVIP guests, will be resplendent in their designer fashion labels as they pack the historic venue. The crème de la crème of SA sports will be waiting with bated breath to see if their names will be called out when the award winners are called to the stage.
Glitz and glamour, flickering cameras, slay queens, autograph-seekers and groupies from all the corners of Mzansi will be the order of the day. Hangers-on, shysters and wannabes, some draped in fong-kong labels, are expected to make their way to the North West mining town.
No one wants to miss out, and no one is going to be left behind – it’s going to the Rainbow Nation in its original form.
It has been a year of triumph in general for SA sports, and everybody wants to cap it off with a national award.
How fitting it is to crown it off with the cherry on top in the form of the biggest accolade in the country’s sports scene.
The awards will be broadcasted live on SABC at 7.30pm.
The Springboks were awesome, lifting the Rugby World Cup for the second time in a row when they marched to victory in France last year.
They are expected to romp home with most of the awards tonight.
Captain Fantastic and Rugby World Cup-winning Siya Kolisi was nominated in the Sports Star of the Year category. He was also nominated in the People’s Choice Award category.
Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok was named in the category of Newcomer of the Year.
Former Boks coach Jacques Nienaber, who won the world cup with the team last year in France, was listed in the Coach of the Year category.
The towering Eben Etzebeth will be in the same categories as his teammate and captain Kolisi, in the Sportsman of the Year and People’s Choice categories.
The officials and administrators of SA Rugby could also get the nod in the Sports Federation of the Year. This includes the Administrator of the Year and the Team of the Year categories.
A tight race is expected in the Sport Star of the Year category, where Kolisi will be up against swimmer Tatjana Smith and paralympic athlete Simone Kruger. In the People’s Choice of the Year classification, Etzebeth, Gerda Steyn, Kolisi, Al Ahly’s Percy Tau, and sailor Kirsten Neuschafer are the nominees.
Said Minister of Sports, Zizi Kodwa, when the nominees were announced: “The 17th edition of the South African Sports Awards takes place at a significant time in South Africa’s history. We celebrate 30 years of democracy.
“And our national athletes and teams have been raising the nation’s flag sky high.
“In the SA Sports Awards, we celebrate the role sport continues to play to unite our diverse people and lift the nation’s mood. South African sports are enjoying unprecedented success.
“Our athletes and sports teams have made us all so proud with their performances. I congratulate all the nominees for the 17th edition of the awards,” he added.
Full List of Nominees:
Sportswoman of the year
- Kirsten Neuschäfer
- Tatjana Smith
- Laura Wolvaardt
Sportsman of the year
- Andrew Birkett
- Eben Etzebeth
- Sivenathi Nontshinga
People’s choice of the year
- Eben Etzebeth
- Gerda Steyn
- Percy Tau
- Siya Kolisi
- Kirsten Neuschafer
Sportswoman of the year with a disability
- Simoné Kruger
- Kat Swanepoel
- Kgothatso Montjane
Coach of the year
- Jacques Nienaber
- Rocco Meiring
- Jason Sewanyana
Newcomer of the year
- Gerald Coetzee
- Manie Libbok
- Karabo Cassius Morapedi
- Elanza Jordaan
Sports star of the year
- Siya Kolisi
- Tatjana Smith
- Simoné Kruger
Team of the year
- Springboks
- T20 Women Cricket Team
- Sheep Shearing
Federation of the year
- South African Rugby Union
- Cricket South Africa
- Cycling South Africa
