Cape Town – There is a heart-rending moment in the documentary Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story – which premiered on DStv last Sunday – where the Springbok captain takes viewers to his family dwelling in Zwide township and how the toilet system works.
Even calling it a toilet is not exactly accurate, as it was essentially a deep hole in the ground in a yard that was covered by a wooden structure around it.
Kolisi demonstrates how newspaper was rubbed vigorously until it was “softer” and could be used as toilet paper, and he goes on to explain the terrible stench that would envelop the area.
It paints a despairing picture of how difficult life was for the little Zwide boy who went on to reach the very top of Springbok rugby in 2019 when he lifted the Webb Ellis Cup following the Rugby World Cup triumph in Japan.
Kolisi’s documentary, following the book of the same title, gives you a visual insight into the path of the Bok captain emerging from the Gqeberha townships to earning a rugby scholarship at Grey High School, captaining Eastern Province at the national youth weeks, and then joining the Stormers and eventually becoming a Test player.
Of course, it wasn’t a rose-filled journey, with a number of difficult personal moments with his parents Fezakele and Phakama, as well as wife Rachel being portrayed in the documentary.
Kolisi is busy getting ready for the defence of the World Cup title in France in September and October at the Bok training camp in Cape Town at the moment, but reflected fondly on the documentary during a press conference this week.
“It took long… it took three years! Normally you wait until you’re done playing to do a book and something like that (documentary), but I just felt that – with the position most athletes are in and the platform that we have – to do it now while I am playing, so that whoever…” the 31-year-old loose forward said.
“My kids look at me and know who I am and the mistakes that I made as a man, the amazing times that I’ve had, and the learnings that I’ve taken.
“I am always learning, each and every single day. I am not a perfect human being, and I know that there are people who go through similar struggles – and that’s why I told the story.
“It’s not just my story as a man… It’s a story about many South African kids who just need an opportunity. With everything that is happening in our country, where people are losing jobs and businesses that they’ve just opened because of the difficulties.
“Where I come from, you can imagine that if you have a job, or you lose your business… There are people who have never had jobs or water or food before.
“I just want to give a young Siya, or whoever – because black, white, coloured, Indian, it doesn’t matter… Struggle doesn’t discriminate against anyone.
“I just want, with everything that has happened, that they have a little bit of hope to know that change can happen. You just mustn’t lose hope… You can dream big.”
Kolisi said that part of the reason for producing the documentary was to encourage men to speak up if they need help, while also shining the spotlight on the scourge of gender-based violence – something that his mother Phakama and other female relatives had endured as well.
“I always think of myself when I was young – I was in the mindset of survival. I just want to survive and get through the day. I don’t have time to dream big,” the 75-cap Bok said.
“But now it’s possible. I got through that with the help of other people, and the help of the community. I want the kid now that’s sitting at home, with everything that’s going wrong, that they know it’s possible for them to make it with just a little bit of hope.
“I hope that’s what (the documentary) does: it just gives someone a little bit of hope. If someone is going through a lot, especially men… Men don’t like to talk and express themselves, especially men who go through tough relationships with their parents.
“It’s normally because we don’t talk to our parents. Our parents don’t share enough. I had the first conversation with my dad when I was doing the documentary, and he told me that it was the first time that he had been in a conversation – like a proper conversation.
“And stuff that he wanted to tell me, but he just didn’t know how, because his dad never spoke to him in that way. Most of those situations happen because men don’t talk or express how they feel.
“Some of the problems that are happening in our country – gender-based violence, all these stuff – are all because men don’t want to come right, don’t call each other out and don’t want to help each other out.
“So, I just wanted to bring awareness to those things, because it’s stuff that I faced and I struggled with when I was a kid. I hope that bringing awareness to it will make it okay – especially with what we do.
“We go through a lot… it’s tough to play. As much as it is a huge privilege, you get tough moments because we know in our country, people want to see us winning, and we want to win and know what it does.
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“But sometimes, it does get tough. And it’s okay for a player to get somebody to talk to. We have access to someone who we can go speak to when times are tough, and I want people to know that it’s okay if it gets too much, to go and speak to someone.
“Hopefully it (the documentary) helps people – even if it’s one (person), that’s all that I care about, that it gives a little bit of energy and hope to someone to keep on going forward.
IOL Sport