Tatiana Schoenmaker and Siya Kolisi have won the big prizes at the SA Sports Awards, held in Durban on Sunday night.
Schoenmaker was named Sports Star of the Year, after establishing herself as one of the best swimmers in the world over the past 12 months. She couldn’t collect her award, because she’s writing her final exams at the University of Pretoria.
The other big prize, the People’s Choice Awards, went to Springbok Rugby Captain Siya Kolisi, who’s in the midst of a nationwide tour with the team after they won the Rugby World Cup.
Deputy Minister of Sport, Nocawe Noncedo Mafu, was delighted that so many sportsmen and women had brought joy to the people of South Africa over the past year.
“The winners and the people that have actually shone in this year, because what sport does for South Africa, because South Africa has got a very negative history, and things that are positive and need to be celebrated, we need to embrace them – and these sports awards came just at the right time. You will all agree that the positive vibe has actually been topped up by the hours themselves, so it’s been a good year,” says Mafu.
