By Gary Lemke in Birmingham
From the boardroom to a front-row seat at one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. In some ways Lwandile Simelane has come full circle. In others she is just getting started.
The 35-year-old is a bundle of infectious energy with an old, wise head on young shoulders. She holds a degree in Politics and majored in Public Governance and Management, and she has a postgraduate Diploma in Labour Law and a BA Honours in International Politics.
Figuratively speaking, by day she is a senior manager at Pax Agriculture Co Operative and by night she is first vice-president at the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). And both day and night at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she is Chef de Mission for Team SA.
Sport and leadership is embedded in Simelane’s DNA. As one of South Africa’s rising young stars in the boardroom, she is now using her gifts and skills to lead Team SA at these Games. Are leaders born or manufactured? “It’s a bit of both,” she says.
We are talking in the Team SA operations room at the University of Birmingham, one of the athletes’ villages at these Games. It’s her first assignment as a Chef de Mission and she has been thrown in at the deep end. She wouldn’t want it any differently.
“As a board member, one gets involved in a lot of legal stuff and engagement in disputes, so for me this has definitely been an easy transition. In the role as Chef, I can get more involved in the field of play stuff, not just that of the boardroom. But I can see that the job has a lot of boardroom elements, so I’m well prepared.”
Simelane’s appointment as Chef coincides with the delivery to these Games of the most transformed Team SA in history. It is without question a watershed moment for the country. “I’m very excited to be given the challenge. I have done delegations in hockey before, but that’s in a single sport environment and this is so much bigger. It’s both great and challenging to understand the nuances and all their specific needs at once.
“Two things in particular excite me about this team,” Simelane says, and you can sense her chest filling up with pride as she talks. “One, the gender component of this team, with more female than male representation for the first time. Two, being able to witness the non-separation of Para and able-bodied athletes. It is so exciting. Usually you have the Olympics and then you have Paralympics, and the two events don’t merge.
“But, for me, the non-separation at the Commonwealth Games is phenomenal. I hope that this gathers momentum. It’s unbelievable to see everybody in one space and not having to separate them through different Games. So, beyond the gender component of Team SA – and I wear gender politics on my sleeve – I have learned so much about the able-bodied and Para dynamic. For example, I learned today that hotels have a certain temperature level for Para-athlete bathrooms, because if those athletes have no feeling in parts of their bodies they could scorch themselves with hot water.
“And I am learning such unbelievable things just because the Commonwealth Games brings everyone together and we are all immersed in some of the challenges that Para athletes face. It’s become something of a passion for me to ensure they’re advocated for.”
Passion is something that oozes from within. It stems from her younger sporting days and it’s driving her to uncharted territory. “When I was a very young, excitable hockey player, I went to varsity, where I got some injuries,” Simelane says. “I realised there was no point crying about it – I wasn’t exactly a world-class hockey player, but I realised that I’m still obsessed with sport. So, I got involved in the youth hockey programmes with the [hockey governing body] FIH and I never looked back after that.”
Learning to rise above adversity has helped Simelane in her rise. “When it comes to setbacks you might sulk and cry for a bit, but your propensity to jump back and make a plan out of it has to kick in at some stage. I’m fortunate to have that type of character.”
Her allround passion and leadership skills make her a perfect fit to play a leading role in the decision-making element of South African sport both now and going forward.
“Sport takes up a lot of space in my heart and I find myself determined to watch, enjoy, play and ‘try’ all types of sport, especially after being exposed to them in a SASCOC landscape. Before, I was mostly a hockey person and that’s the sport that I was nuts about. To be fair, I’m still nuts about hockey. But now I’ve taken a far greater interest in other codes and understand the intricacies of all the other sports.
“Socially, I’ve always watched football, always watched cricket, rugby, tennis, Formula One … I enjoy all the mainstream sports but have developed a finer appreciation for each and every other sport in the country as well.
“There so much that excites me about these Commonwealth Games. Seeing women’s cricket in the programme for the first time, I’m interested to see how that tournament goes. As a country we have a great cricketing history and our ladies team is top notch with some of the world’s top players in it. I’m also keen to see us succeed in sports we have always done well in, like swimming, athletics and sevens rugby. I’m excited to see our youngsters across the codes taking these Games as a great opportunity to make names for themselves.
“Then there’s netball, with the countdown for the World Cup in Cape Town a year away. I’m keen to see how they are preparing and to measure themselves against really top sides here. And, obviously, I’m looking forward to seeing us surprise people. That’s the South African way. We have a great record with firsts, our silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in surfing’s debut at the Games being an example.”
Simelane sees these Commonwealth Games as “a springboard” to bigger and better things. The netballers are an example, given what lies ahead next year. And Banyana Banyana’s win at the women’s Africa Cup of Nations has also come at the perfect time.
“I was in a public space and watched Banyana on TV in their final against Morocco. Not many people knew what we were looking at, but when Hildah Magaia scored the first goal, we erupted and that generated a bit of a crowd who gathered round to watch with us. It was not only a phenomenal moment for women’s sport, but it was phenomenal for sport in general.
“It’s one of South Africa’s finest sporting moments. This is a team who were placed in a tournament and did the business. It’s not phenomenal because they’re women but it’s phenomenal because they’re a national team who got the job done.”
And what is Simelane’s message to Team SA, who still have a job to do in Birmingham?
“My message is a simple one,” she says. “Do well. No one is putting pressure on you. We want you to enjoy yourself and to measure yourself. Set your targets and meet them. If your targets and goals and dreams materialise and they amount to winning a Commonwealth Games medal, all the better. Do what you need to do and do your best.”
That message is simple, but powerful. It’s direct and delivered from a leader who knows that the only expectation is to give 100%. Almost as if she has stepped out of the boardroom and on to the touchline to deliver that message. Like a true leader would do.