Sam gave sport the sack during apartheid
THE sack race was a joy of our school days in Chatsworth. The annual athletics meeting was the highlight of the year. The cream doughnut and little bottle of Coke had a great deal to do with the excitement.
It was also a time for some of the not-so-bright to shine.
Koila was not too fond of his books, but he could jump into that hessian Muzza rice bag and hop to the finishing line in 20 seconds flat.
I dare not use the name that’s on his identity document. For a man whose report card was dominated by single digits, his bank account nowadays has a lot of zeroes.
This newspaper might not be able to carry the defamation suit he’s prone to bring if I disclosed his less-than-stellar classroom performance.
On the other hand, schooling has interrupted many people’s education. Koila made a great success of his life, but for me his greatest achievement was him hurtling down that Cavendish school field to the first prize of six printed glass tumblers.
I wonder why the sack race has never been recognised as an Olympic sport? It’s a question I should have put to Sam Ramsamy over lunch.
We were sitting down to divine sugar beans curry and rice amid the simple splendour of the Savera Hotel, which is a stone’s throw from my Bangladesh market district.
Ramsamy has done Durban and our country proud with his campaign to isolate apartheid South Africa from world sport.
Nowadays he struts the world stage as an executive member of the International Olympic Committee looking to grow sport in impoverished communities.
He is extremely proud that his origins are among the working people of the Magazine Barracks.
While he routinely communes with heads of state and royalty, his two homeboys at the modest lunch table are treated as the most important people in the world. The one relishes the local tripe curry, while the other savours the original pub-style fish cake.
Ramsamy’s personal warmth and humility shine through the pages of his memoir, Reflections of a Life in Sport, written with Edward Griffiths.
It’s a charming tale of his growing up and his ambitions to reach for the sky.
The latter is told metaphorically through his letting his schoolmates know that he wanted to fly aircraft.
In the foreword, president Thabo Mbeki writes: “Sam Ramsamy has had the duty to lead the challenging process of building non-racial sport in our country… to unite our people in a spirit of national reconciliation rather than racial division and conflict.”
As we mark Human Rights Day, Ramsamy will tell you that his work is not yet done.
• Higgins promotes #Readingrevolution via Books@antiquecafe in Morningside and #Hashtagbooks on Shannon Drive, Reservoir Hills. Find him on Facebook as The Bookseller of Bangladesh.
Ramsamy did the country proud with his campaign to isolate apartheid South Africa from world sport