by Gaynor Paynter

G21 Africa Columnist

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Gaynor Paynter & her sons

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Greetings from your correspondent on the southern most tip of Africa. I hope that this letter finds you all well - know that my prayers are with you in this time of uncertainty in your country.

I often think about and pray for my own countrymen, the 42 million other South Africans. Who are they? They are a colourful conglomerate of young and old, male and female, Black, White, Coloured, Indian, etc., but all are individuals. Rich individuals with more money than they know what to do with, poor individuals with more problems that you would think it possible to bear, compassionate individuals who are there to lend an ear and offer advice, and harsh individuals who just donžt seem to care at all, but all individuals none the less. All these individuals join together to make up one whole, the image of this country, South Africa

Because although we are all individuals, what makes us South African is that we have common interests, common hopes and dreams, common passions. I can almost guarantee you that three quarters of South Africans are watching or listening to cricket in some way tonight. We come out in force to represent and support our country in most things she undertakes, be it the designing of the South African flag or the competing in sports tournaments. Nothing unites a country better than a national pastime, especially when there is a healthy rivalry between two countries, as there is between South Africa and Australia.

I'll share a popular joke with you. There were a South African rugby fan, an Australian rugby fan and a beautiful woman sitting next to each other on a train. The train went through a tunnel and everything went dark.

Suddenly there was a kissing sound and then a loud slap! The train comes out of the tunnel. The woman and the South African fan were sitting there looking perplexed. The Australian fan was bent over holding his face, which was red from an apparent slap.

The Australian fan thought 'Bastard, that South African must have tried to kiss this lady, she thought it was me and slapped me.'

The lady thought, 'That Australian fan must have moved to kiss me and kissed the South African fan instead and got slapped.'

The South African fan thought, 'If this train goes through another tunnel, I could make another kissing sound and moer (South Africanism for hit!) that Aussie again.'

Any excuse to hit an Aussie!

For most South Africans there is nothing more appealing to do with your relaxation time than slapping some meat on a braai, having a drink with some friends and watching sport, be it soccer, rugby, cricket or even tennis. Itžs part of our national identity and we look to sporting teams, made up of individuals, to bring glory to our country. It is to these great South Africans, two sporting individuals in particular, that I would like to pay tribute with this article, as with the current ICC Cricket World Cup comes the departure from the cricketing scene of two of the gamežs best ambassadors.

The first of these is Jonty Rhodes, one of the worldžs best fielders, a great motivator both on and off the field, and a tenacious, adventurous batsman. Jonty, who has had to overcome adversity in the epilepsy that he battles, not only professes to be a Christian but also lives it too. Jonty announced about two years ago that the Cricket World Cup would be his last international tournament and that the time had come for him to concentrate on his wife and family (he is the father of a daughter and the media reports that he and his wife are hoping for another baby in the future).

The spectacular of the World Cup was to be his final bow, but sadly, his dream was not to be realised ‚ in the first match of the tournament he broke his hand and, after hearing that it would take at least three weeks to recover, announced his retirement. The cricket field is a quieter, more solemn place without him, and our loss is English county cricketžs gain. Jonty was the hero of many a South African schoolboy, and some schoolgirls, too, and will be sorely missed in days when all roads no longer lead to Jonty. In 1992, Jonty, fielding with South Africa, was the winner of a race with Pakistanžs Imzamam ul-Haq, wherein Jonty fielded the ball and sprinted to the stumps to run out ul-Haq in the most dramatic fashion, and this is the image of Jonty that will stay with me always. He is the personification of all the new South Africa professes to be.

The second is Allan Donald, ostensibly (in his heyday) South Africažs fastest and most threatening bowler. Allan, together with Jonty Rhodes, has been with the South African cricket team since its readmission to world cricket and is an integral part of the team. He presented quality and professionalism each time he stepped out onto the field. And when Allan Donald had the ball in his hand, you as a spectator knew that things were about to happen.

Banners and posters stating messages such as "Duck, itžs Donald!" were the order of the day. I myself was fortunate enough to be present in the stands at a test cricket match in Johannesburg between South Africa and England, and during that match Allan Donald took his hundredth test wicket. He has since taken many more of course (I think it is over 300 now), but the atmosphere that day was electric. I canžt remember whether or not South Africa won that match but I do remember that on that day, as on many others, I was proud to be South African. One of our boys had made good, and for a sports supporter such as myself there is no greater feeling in the world than that!

Allan Donald, although an individual (there has been no other bowler like him in my opinion) has proved himself to be a team player to the last ‚ he will not leave his team in the lurch and I hope that this, as the last tournament he will play in, will pay out great dividends for both himself and South Africa. I know that I will never forget watching him charge down the wicket, white "warpaint" (actually sun cream) smeared all over his face in the manner of an Indian warrior and thanking Heaven that I was not the one who was expected to hit the ball he was hurling at me!

There are of course other great South African sportsmen (most of whom do our country proud by being such fantastic representatives). The South African golfing community has produced the likes of Gary Player and Ernie Els who are highly lauded as being great players. South African boxing has yielded many greats, such as Dingaan Thobela, known as the Rose of Soweto. Running and athletics have given us greats such as Hezekiel Sepeng, Zola Budd, Elana Meyer and Llewellyn Herbert. Soccer has given the South African youth much to cheer about by watching Lucas Radebe (ex South African captain who has now been appointed captain of Leeds in the United Kingdom), the antics of Benny McCarthy and Mark Fish to name but a few. Penelope Heyns, the South African breast stroke swimmer, won gold medals in the Olympics not many years ago. (My husband and I have great memories of being newly married and getting up at about four ožclock one morning to watch her swim.) And in the 1950s we had Jody Scheckter, who was a great motor racer, in 1995 our rugby team won the World Cup. There are of course, many others, and we are immensely proud of all our South African sports men and women, be they team players or individuals.

How invaluable is the importance of having role models such as these in a country where real role models for the youth are few and far between? Millions of children live on the streets and have been let down by many adults in their lives - they donžt even have parents of their own to use as mentors. And how important is the fact that when all these sporting champions do well for South Africa and national morale and hope is increased? The responsibility of the sports star is threefold ‚ to do well in the game, to represent the country in a positive light and to honour the fact that his fans believe in him. And so I ask again, how invaluable is the importance of having role models in this country? I think the value untold.

Sportsmen come and go, some prove to be great in their chosen fields, and others are sadly mediocre ‚ and when they depart they clear the way for youngsters waiting to make their entrance to make their debut on stage. The game of cricket is no exception to this ‚ the departure of Jonty Rhodes and Allan Donald from the arena leaves the way clear for players such as Roger Petersen, Monde Zondeki and Makhaya Ntini to make their names ‚ they are some of the up and coming stars, and there are more waiting in primary schools and high schools. Herežs looking at you, kids!