Siyamthanda “Siya” Kolisi, captain of the Springboks who won the World Cup, wants to transform the appearance of his town, Zwide, in Gqeberha by constructing a school comparable to Grey High School through the Kolisi Foundation.
Moments before the premiere of the long-awaited documentary Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story, he disclosed his dream.
Kolisi described the construction of a Model C school in the area as a dream.
“My wife [Racheal Kolisi] and I had this conversation outside my hotel room the night before the World Cup final. This is what we have written down and stated as our objective.
“That will take some time for it to occur, but we cannot stop and do nothing in the meanwhile. What we witnessed at Grey [High School] is what we want to see at Zwide, and not just at one school, but on a more frequent basis, when kids from Grey come to play in the township and township kids go to play at Grey.”
Siya in Zwide x RISE: The Story of Siya Kolisi.
February 26: A brand-new documentary that is quite intimate. A proudly South African production exposing the unvarnished, courageous, and brutally honest @SiyaKolisi Story. #RiseSiyaKolisihttps://t.co/uB9sNIyyTA
3.Feb.2023 — Kolisi Foundation (@KolisiFdd)
The 31-year-old supported the concept of constructing a Model C school, stating that he wishes to shape students in his community into role models for others.
“During my time, I was among the three who were sent to a Model C school. “I wasn’t even the best back then; I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” he explained.
“What we are saying is that we cannot continue to remove the best from the community and place them elsewhere. If we construct a school in this location, the local youth will be able to look up to us and view us as role models.
If we can offer resources to the community, that is what we need most. We appreciate being in this environment and we love living in the township.
Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story will premiere on M-Net and Mzansi Magic on February 26 at 5:00 p.m. It will also be broadcast at 8pm on SuperSport.
»Kolisi Foundation’s records include Zwide Model C school«