Ken Borland

South Africa’s poor placing of ninth in the Super League for ICC World Cup qualifying means it is imperative they cash in on the visit of the Netherlands later this month and win all three ODIs, but the selectors on Wednesday still announced a Proteas squad missing numerous frontline players.

Keshav Maharaj will lead a South African team in which Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi and Lungi Ngidi are the only regulars, along with the two all-rounders Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo.

But as selection convenor Victor Mpitsang explained, it is a necessity due to player welfare concerns. The stars who have been rested have basically spent most of the last five months going from bio-bubbles in the West Indies, to Ireland, to Sri Lanka and then the UAE. And they will re-enter another bubble in a months time for the Test series against India.

“It’s so difficult because we need to make sure we play well and beat the Netherlands, but the challenge is that a majority of the guys have been in bubbles for the last few months,” Mpitsang told The Citizen on Wednesday.

“They need a mental break, so we have given them some rest with a long, important summer ahead. The selectors and the coach had discussions and Mark Boucher wanted a certain group of players to have a mental break.

“He recommended certain players and we spoke to them as well. A guy like Keshav was confident that he could handle another week, he was looking forward to playing and it’s another opportunity for him on the captaincy side.”

So it means several players who probably will find no room in the Proteas inn around Christmas time will now get their chance in the Green and Gold.

And for Khaya Zondo and Wayne Parnell it means a return to the national team for the first time in several years.

Zondo in prime form at the moment having scored an unbeaten double century a fortnight ago, is back after a three-year absence. Mpitsang said his return comes as the selectors try to fill slots in the middle-order.

“Our batting line-up is a bit top-heavy, but Khaya has a specific role and experience in the middle-order and is in helluva good form. He played some crucial T20 innings for the Dolphins and paced things nicely.

“And I think Wayne has really grown and developed since he last played for the Proteas four years ago. He has done exceptionally well coming in at No.7 for Western Province.

“He is so mature because of the amount of cricket he has played … and he’s a left-arm fast bowler. All-rounders like him make such a difference because it gives us the opportunity to play a second spinner while still having three frontline quicks,” Mpitsang explained.

Proteas squad: Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Ryan Rickelton, Zubayr Hamza, Khaya Zondo, David Miller, Kyle Verreynne, Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Sisanda Magala, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Daryn Dupavillon.

GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – Vodacom’s 17-year title sponsorship of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series makes them one of the Sunshine Tour’s most loyal partners, giving South African professionals playing opportunities through the winter, but the telecommunications company has always also been focused on the higher calling of helping develop people in general and supporting charitable initiatives in the communities they visit.

This week the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series is in Gqeberha for the two-day Pro-Am and then the professional tournament at Humewood Golf Club, and Tshego Malinga, the executive head of department for the Customer Business Unit Eastern Region, is focused on making sure the event touches many peoples’ lives.

“We have the ability to make sure profit meets purpose and I am a firm believer that the two are never mutually exclusive. At the centre of everything we do at Vodacom is the desire to enable our customers to live out their purpose. We do that by connecting them in an environment in which they can express their passions and aspirations.

“But it’s also important for Vodacom to be part of the development of South Africa as a whole, and sport plays a very important part in the development of the nation. We want to help people explore their talent and hopefully some of them can go on to become international icons. We also want to be helpful to the community and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series has really assisted in the funding of many charities,” Malinga says.

This week’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Pro-Am at Humewood will be raising funds for the Maro Foundation, which was started in 2014 by Pamela Mabini.

A social and gender activist from Kwazakhele, Mabini used her corporate connections to distribute food, blankets, clothes, shoes and hygiene products to the homeless. Since then she has opened two facilities in Johannesburg for the rehoming of mentally handicapped, disabled or HIV-positive children who have been abandoned by their families,

“We have the ability to really help this NGO that is also helping in the fight against gender-based violence, so that’s our big focus for this tournament. We want to help those who have less access to things we might take for granted. We need a consciousness of the environment we operate in, we can’t just be focused on our share price.

“It is super special for us to be able to host this event and help the Maro Foundation in these times of Covid and all the hesitation around that. It’s a tricky balance making sure people are safe but also bringing them together. We really want the show to go on, so we can keep helping people. It’s an honour for Vodacom to be able to do that,” Malinga says.

Although not a golfer herself, Malinga is also acutely aware of the history of Humewood Golf Club, one of South Africa’s top courses and the host of many major tournaments.

“Vodacom, Humewood and the Eastern Cape are all very iconic brands, so this event is the amalgamation of very strong South African brands. We all have a responsibility to society and Humewood has a strong heritage in both Eastern Cape and Port Elizabeth society. It has credibility because of its heritage and this collection of brands people love makes it easier to galvanise them around their shared history and love for the province and city,” Malinga says.

The Pro-Am Dinner on the eve of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series has already raised R25 000 for the Maro Foundation, with the fundraising efforts continuing all week.

Greater Flamingo flying over the Chatty Saltpans

The Swartkops Estuary in Port Elizabeth is well-known as one of South Africa’s 112 Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and while the river and mudflats have the greatest density of birds and hog the limelight as the most natural areas, my sunset visit on December 30 was to the salt pans and threw up a special that is often difficult to find elsewhere.

The Chatty River flows from the west into the Swartkops River and alongside it, next to the R367 main road, there are commercial saltpans which can provide quality foraging opportunities for many birds, especially when the salinity and water level are just right for a host of invertebrates to be crawling around in the benthos.

The elegant flamingos – both Greater and Lesser – immediately catch the eye and I was also drawn to the Pied Avocets, one of my favourite birds, sweeping and scything around in the water.

But dotted around the pan were smaller birds – the Blacknecked Grebe.

The Chatty Saltpans hold globally significant numbers of this uncommon nomad, which has the propensity to suddenly colonise a flooded area and start breeding. There are usually good numbers of this cute little diving bird at Swartkops though, and I did not notice any birds in breeding plumage, so perhaps they were moulting, with the widely-distributed Blacknecked Grebe known to utilise saline lakes overseas for this purpose.

Another special that can be picked up at the Swartkops Estuary is the Hartlaub’s Gull, which has a recently-established breeding colony in the area. It was previously considered a bird of the Western Cape, its distribution tied to that of Kelp, with only vagrant birds moving east of Cape Agulhas, and it interbreeds with Greyheaded Gulls in this river valley. Being omnivorous, it seems to have adapted to new foraging opportunities around human settlements.

Nicely built-up embankments between the pans allow one to approach the vulnerable Flamingos and their friends reasonably closely as they continue their search for invertebrates, and other birds that have adapted well to man-made wetlands were also busy foraging for their dinner in the gathering gloom – Blackwinged Stilt, African Spoonbill, Cape Cormorant, Kelp Gull, Egyptian Goose, Blacksmith Plover, Cape Wagtail and Sacred Ibis.

Where are the Chatty Saltpans?

Sightings list

Greater Flamingo

Kelp Gull

Pied Avocet

Blacknecked Grebe

Blackwinged Stilt

Lesser Flamingo

Egyptian Goose

Cape Cormorant

Blacksmith Plover

Hartlaub’s Gull

Cape Wagtail

Sacred Ibis

African Spoonbill

The Lions played with superb fluency and confidence, pace and power, to ensure the Sharks would come badly undone on their visit to Johannesburg, the hosts winning their SuperRugby match 37-10 at Ellis Park on Saturday.

After weathering an impressive first five minutes from the Sharks, the Lions were quick to communicate their intention to pick up where they left off before the June international break, their previous result being a similarly superb 56-20 demolition of the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.

The Sharks’ bright start withered in the face of some ferocious defending from the Lions and they simply pushed the visitors ever further from the advantage line, bossing the collisions and producing the quick ball that they flourished on, displaying wonderful skills and intensity in the process.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies put the first points on the board with a seventh-minute penalty and the woes began for the Sharks as Paul Jordaan limped off with a knee injury. They had already been forced to make a midfield change when Andre Esterhuizen failed to recover in time from the hamstring strain he picked up during the week, which meant Jordaan was playing inside centre and JP Pietersen shifted to number 13 and S’bura Sithole came on to the wing.

Heimar Williams then came on to replace Jordaan and, with Garth April appearing flustered at flyhalf, the Sharks had a severely disrupted backline, the Esterhuizen/Jordaan combination being one of their strong points this season.

But what was unforgivable was the number of basic mistakes the Sharks made in the first half, starting with scrumhalf Michael Claassens basically bailing out of taking an up-and-under, giving the Lions prime attacking position. Lionel Mapoe produced an incisive run, Jaco Kriel, as ever, was up in support and made the final pass for wing Ruan Combrinck to score the opening try in the 15th minute.

The Sharks were also poor at relieving pressure in their own territory, allowing the Lions to mount relentless attacks because their kicks were often up-and-unders instead of touchfinders, and too often they did not find touch or grass.

The second try came after an up-and-under from the base rather than a lengthy kick to clear the lines, followed by Odwa Ndungane dithering and not claiming a mark that could also have relieved the pressure. Instead the Lions piled on to attack, lock Franco Mostert powered through close to the line and eventually centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg grabbed the ball out of a maul and swiveled over the line.

On the half-hour, the jittery April kicked straight to fullback Andries Coetzee, who launched the attack and Combrinck’s little chip behind the defensive line bounced wickedly for Lwazi Mvovo, again in the north-east corner of Ellis Park, with eighthman Ruan Ackermann gathering and passing to hooker Malcolm Marx to storm over for the third try.

The Sharks were 20-0 down and then butchered the best chance they had to get on the scoreboard when Mvovo’s pace took him clear, but his pass inside to Ndungane was a bit behind the fullback and the veteran dropped the ball with the line clear ahead of him.

While the dazzling attacking play of the Lions backline gets most of the plaudits, their pack is also brilliant and they deserve the credit for the fourth try, scored on the stroke of halftime, as the forwards went on the charge, battering through the advantage line until Ackermann, one of the stars of the show as he stood in for the injured Warren Whiteley, powered over the line with two of his colleagues behind him.

Jantjies’ conversion meant the Lions would go into the break with a commanding 27-0 lead and the problems that bedevilled the Sharks did not go away in the third quarter either.

April produced an awful kick from his own 22 that did not go anywhere but straight up, leading to a penalty slotted by Jantjies, and the ball-hungry Kriel then crashed over the line in a move that again highlighted the pace and power of the Lions forwards.

At 37-0 down with 22 minutes to play, the Sharks were really just chasing pride and their replacements, especially lock Ruan Botha, added some much-needed energy.

The visitors were finally on the board in the 63rd minute, Sithole cutting through the Lions defences and some clean hands by April and replacement fullback Rhyno Smith delivered the ball to Mvovo, who stepped inside and dotted down.

Six minutes later, Botha, who announced his return from long-term injury with a compelling performance in the Ellis Park fortress, soared high to take a lineout and set up the rolling maul, from which another Sharks import, replacement hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, scored.

That made it five tries to two and, if the Sharks had managed to score once more in the last 11 minutes it would have robbed the Lions of a well-deserved bonus point, but Johannesburg’s pride held out to ensure they will top their conference and host the city’s first SuperRugby knockout game since 2001.