Winners...

South Africans are

SPORT, they say, is simply war by other means. So, every four years, we celebrate the Olympic Games as a reminder that we compete for gold, silver and bronze instead of killing each other.

The 2016 spectacle in Rio, and the performance of Team South Africa there, is a perfect reflection of where we are as a nation, and as a people.

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and when we defied the odds – of civil war, of violence and destruction – in 1994, we were, truly, the gold medal winners in humanity’s race to equality and freedom.

We triumphed where many would see us fail. And perhaps we came to expect that the world would always consider us the golden children... those living the dream of Madiba.

But now, more than 20 years later, we have to take our place at the global starting line and compete on the same level as everyone else and, in a political and strategic sense, no-one is going to do us any favours.

We will be judged by our commitment to democracy and to doing the right thing, no matter who it offends.

And, we won’t always get it right. But we will do it our way... and we won’t be beholden to anyone else.

That is what we see from our competitors at Rio. They may not bring us the medals we want to pump up our egos... but they have shown that the world cannot ignore us when it comes to sport.

More than that, though, they have shown we don’t give up. And that, under the skin, we are all South Africans.