Live to Lead (2022) s01e05 Episode Script

1
Siya Kolisi is the captain of
South Africa's national rugby union team,
the Springboks.
In his work on and off the field,
Siya channels the legacy of his hero,
Nelson Mandela,
to inspire South Africa's
next generation of leaders.
Utata Mandela's been
a huge inspiration for me.
First African to touch the whole world,
not just South Africa.
And just the way
he went about his business, you know,
coming out and
coming out with love and forgiveness and
I'm hoping I can do
just a percentage of the work
that he wanted to see,
or the South Africa he wanted to see.
This was inspired by Nelson Mandela,
who once said, "What counts in life
is not the mere fact that we have lived
it is what difference
we have made to the lives of others
that will determine
the significance of the life we lead."
His life
left a lasting mark on the world.
A legacy that has helped inspire
so many others to stand up
to fight for change
and to become leaders.
So this is in memory of Madiba.
It was made to remind us
of the difference one person can make.
It's about people
who have made brave choices,
leaders who have walked alongside him
and followed in his footsteps
caring for others,
working for a better and more equal world
and giving inspiration
to the rest of us
to live to lead.
You can't break me down
You can't take me down ♪
You can't take me down
You can't break me down ♪
You can't take me down ♪
There's not a schoolboy
in a township here now
who can't dream the dream.
This is where it all began
for Siya Kolisi,
a dirt pitch
at the back of his local primary school.
I was raised by my grandmother,
and we weren't a very privileged family,
and so I started playing rugby,
and every single day,
I would go to school,
do my homework at school,
finish it, then go to training,
get home, if there's a meal,
I will eat or just go straight to bed.
His former teacher remembers
a poor boy with a wealth of talent.
Siya comes from a poor family.
He used to watch the rugby in a tavern
because in his home there was no TV.
But now, where is he?
Kolisi's rise from poverty
to become the first
Black Springbok captain
has brought with it heroic status.
These children, like millions here,
are uniting behind a Springbok captain
whose story echoes their own,
in the hope that he leads them
to World Cup victory.
The Boks have just
beaten Wales in a nail-biting semifinal,
sending fans around the country
into rapture.
It's incredible when you watch
someone win that looks exactly like you,
that's been through
some of the things you've been through
because it shows you
that impossible is nothing.
- South Africa!
- Come on!
World Cup winners in 2019!
I've never seen
South Africa like this.
We're not playing for ourselves anymore,
we're playing for our people back home,
and that's what we wanted to do today.
We really appreciate all the support.
People in the taverns,
people in the shebeens,
people in farms and homeless people,
there were screens there,
and people in rural areas.
Thank you so much.
We appreciate all the support.
We love you, South Africa,
and we can achieve anything
if we work together as one.
You know, we can score tries
and win medals and win trophies
and people praise us,
but at the end of the day,
the next champion will come through.
The work that we do
off the field is the most important thing.
I think the sooner we understand that,
the sooner we realize that,
the better this world will be
through sport.
All my favorite colors
Yes, ma'am ♪
My sisters and my brothers
See 'em like no other ♪
All my favorite colors ♪
When you sit down
and you think about it clearly,
and you say, "Okay, but there was a stage
when Siya went through stuff like that,
where actually he didn't have food
or didn't have shoes to wear,
couldn't get to school."
And then you think,
"Here he sits as a captain,
and he led South Africa
to hold this cup.
I think that should sum up,
uh, what Siya is.
My grandmother raised me.
She loved me a lot, and I loved her a lot,
and she was everything to me.
She used to go visit her friends,
and you know when you go to your friends
they normally make you tea
and give you irostile
or igwinya or cookies,
and she would put that in a packet
and put it in her pocket
and bring it home for me.
And she wouldn't eat.
Like, she was the actual hero for me,
and that's the story
of a lot of kids where I'm from.
The people that you look up to,
the heroes for you in the township
where I was from, is drug dealers
My dad was an alcoholic,
and my dad used to
abuse my mom when I was young.
Think I was five years old.
I used to watch this.
I remember the one day, walking
in the street and playing with my friends
and picking up my mother's teeth
in the corner of my street.
And, you know, at that age already,
I knew this wasn't right
'cause my mom wasn't happy,
I used to cry to see this, and,
um, throughout all of that stuff at home,
my grandmother,
all she would give me was love and time,
and I think that's all I needed
at the time.
She did everything she could
to bring a meal to the table
but she couldn't sometimes,
and I'd sleep on sugar water,
and I would go to school
'cause I would get a meal there.
And I would look forward to that.
And I'd play sports, do my academics,
and then go to club training
afterwards as well, and
just on one slice of bread a day.
And that kept me going.
When she got sick,
I think I was, like, nine or ten,
and I had to look after
my grandmother, so
It was tough in a way
'cause I couldn't go to school,
but I don't think there was any better
person to look after her than me.
She passed on,
then my aunt had to look after me.
She also passed on. My mom also passed on.
I had to grow up quickly.
And I used to sell vegetables
when I was young in the townships,
just to get a meal in my stomach,
and when I was 15,
I started working at a tavern,
and it was illegal but luckily I grew.
I remember the day
they threw tear gas into the place.
People ran out. I had to stand there.
I remember my eyes were just watering
because I couldn't leave the till
'cause I was working there.
And that was all so that
I could just provide something at home.
And I was 15 then, so from then I knew,
like, I gotta do something for myself
and for my family as well.
Where does this courage
come from?
The courage to stand there, with tear gas,
and the bravery you've shown on the field?
I can't point to the place but
I think the same courage
that my gran had, you know?
To try and keep me positive at all times
through everything that was happening,
and for her not to go days without eating
and sacrifice everything for me.
I mean, the stuff that I was going through
was much less than she had to go through,
and I think maybe I got it from her,
but I didn't wanna fail.
'Cause I knew if I failed,
a lot of other people
would never get
what I wanted to give to them.
Then I met this teacher called Eric.
He took me to his school.
Within six months,
I got a scholarship to go to Grey.
He was a huge hero.
He took the, um father figure on for me.
Always there, drove me around,
whatever I needed, he was there for me.
I played my first trials,
and I never could've
I didn't have shorts,
so I was playing in those silky boxers.
So I think that's how, um,
the teacher from Grey actually spotted me.
He's, like, "That one stands out.
I want him."
You were offered a
scholarship that changed your life, right?
- Yeah. Like that.
- Like. Like that.
Fifteen-minute drive
from my house to Grey,
and that drive, when I got to Grey,
I just started dreaming differently.
Like Anything was possible,
just seeing the building alone.
I knew where I came from, you know?
With the township school,
Emsengeni, we used to wear a jersey.
Three different teams,
take it off and let the other one play.
Then I go to Grey, I've got my own jersey.
Every kid has their own jersey,
and I knew that that's not right.
That the other kids, 15 minutes away,
have to struggle to get meals,
and now I was eating
I was eating six times a day.
And I always remember
eating my first meal.
Mr. Clark, who was the head of hostel,
year two, stopped me.
I was on my third plate while
the other kids were eating their first.
He's, like, "Relax. This is yours."
And I was just, like, blown away.
Like, it just lifted my confidence up,
you know.
And my chest was out. So confident and
I knew, like this
there's so much more I can achieve.
This was just
everything was just relying on me now,
to take this opportunity,
and I think I grabbed it with both hands.
Yeah.
The stories about you at school
were that you were the kid
that always had a smile,
was the first one at training
and the last one to leave.
You had a kind of drive about you,
an ambition maybe.
Could you tell me a little bit about that?
Well, I was raised well
by my grandparent. She
taught me all I knew, and through
tough times, I was always happy, and
and I wanted to become something.
I didn't only owe it to me.
I owed it to all the people
that sacrificed a lot for me.
So I just became myself.
I smiled, and I spoke my broken English,
and I got taught English
like a like a grade one.
You know, we're doing ABCDs, and
You know
You know how boys are,
some would laugh at you, you know.
Then I started laughing at myself first
so it's not as effective when they do it.
They weren't mean.
They were just being kids.
And I started enjoying it.
And my personality
was really enjoyed by the other guys.
And end of the year,
I got the headmaster's award,
which never gets given
to someone that's new,
and I knew what I was working towards,
and I didn't know it would happen,
but I had to give it my all
so that I didn't have regret afterwards.
Do you think about
your grandmother still?
I know she's definitely proud of me.
She's proud of the person I've become,
and I wish she could be here to see,
but I've no doubt
that she's looking at me, and she's proud.
It's a green-letter day,
as it were, in South African rugby,
with the appointment
of a Black Springbok captain.
Given our history of segregations,
our fraught history of race relations,
apartheid, hundreds of years
of colonialism,
and the fact that rugby
was such an important part
of the apartheid architecture,
of the Afrikaner nationalism ideology,
the fact that we now have
a Black Springbok rugby captain,
who comes from the Eastern Cape,
is pretty significant.
The day is 16 June,
the year is 1991.
On this day,
Zwide township, outside Port Elizabeth,
welcomes the birth of their son.
This son will not be raised by his mother.
This son is to be raised
by his paternal grandmother.
He is given the name Siyamthanda,
meaning "we love him"
because despite being born into
and growing up with poverty
and struggle, he was loved a lot.
It is during his youth
that Siya meets Eric Songwiqi.
It was Mr. Songwiqi
who told the then 11-year-old Siya,
"Young boy, you will play rugby
because, in the near future,
you are going to play for the Springboks."
It's his mentor
who thrusts him into rugby,
and as the English saying goes,
the rest is history.
And right now, that time has come.
Siya is the first Black player in
its history to captain the national team,
right here, in our rainbow nation.
Rise up, Zwide!
Rise up, Motherwell!
Rise up, Walmer!
Rise up, KwaZakhele and New Brighton!
Because this boy is yours,
representing all of us.
Siya is the nation's grandchild.
He is our son,
he is our nephew,
he is our younger brother,
he is Nicholas's father,
he is Rachel's husband,
he is a cement truck with no reverse gear!
For a lot of young kids
from the same background as me,
who will face the same struggles,
Black, white, colored, or any race,
I'm hoping that it inspires them,
that to know that it is possible.
You gotta use what you have around you.
When I was young, I never dreamt of this.
This was never something
that I thought about,
but now they can dream about it.
Africa kicks off
its 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign
against New Zealand,
that's the All Blacks, on Saturday.
The country is pinning its hopes
on the Bok squad.
So the question is asked,
"South Africa, are you ready for this?"
The All Blacks pouring forward.
Ryan Crotty.
Out it comes. Beauden Barrett!
Barrett with support from George Bridge.
Try for the All Blacks!
No team have won
a World Cup having lost a game in it.
What do you say to that?
I guess that's a challenge
we'll have to now take.
History's there to break.
Unfortunately,
we've put ourselves into a position now,
and now we have to fight.
Here they come.
Quite clearly a must-win game
for South Africa.
Over to Brits.
One try assist already tonight,
lovely hands,
across to the right, and look who it is!
Siya Kolisi!
South Africa are back on track.
They have crushed Italy.
It's a bonus point
victory for South Africa.
That will do us!
We're off to the semis!
Siya, I must tell you
that I am so proud of you.
And I just wanted to wish you
very well for the semifinal.
And I know
that you will do extremely well.
You've got 57 million South Africans
standing behind you.
I want to say,
Siya, you make the country happy.
We want to say, we love you, Siya.
South Africa punch their ticket!
They are off to the biggest game in rugby.
They are World Cup finalists!
Rugby World Cup 2019
is about to hit its pinnacle,
with South Africa and England
down to fight it out
for the game's ultimate prize.
Am. Mapimpi!
Mapimpi, putting it in the hole for Am!
Am, look at him go!
Back to Makazole Mapimpi!
The World Cup is theirs!
Ten seconds out now.
They're about to create history
as the only team ever
at the World Cup
to lose a pool game and go on and lift
the biggest prize of them all!
South Africa
are World Cup winners in 2019!
Siya Kolisi and South Africa
are Rugby World Cup kings in Japan!
We're here, with the winning captain
from South Africa, Siya Kolisi.
Siya, just tell me,
when the final whistle went,
what were your first thoughts?
I was just grateful.
I was grateful for everything
that the team has been through.
We faced a lot of challenges.
But the people of South Africa
have gotten behind us,
and we are so grateful
to the people of South Africa.
And, you know, we have
so many problems in our country,
but to have a team like this, you know,
we come from different backgrounds,
different races,
and we came together with one goal,
and we wanted to achieve it.
I really hope that we've done that
for South Africa,
to show that we can pull together
if we wanna achieve something.
What really matters to you?
My family.
Family's important to me.
The way my kids look at me.
The way my wife looks at me.
And the community is very important to me.
Through all my struggles,
I would go to my neighbors
to ask for food.
I would go three houses away
to watch television.
They would give me food, and
And now I've got
the opportunity to give back to them.
And every time I step on the field,
or every time I'm feeling down,
I wanna quit,
they're the people that I think about.
We love
- We love you
- Siya!
I see South Africa as an amazing country.
I know we have huge potential.
And, for me, from my side,
I would love to see an equal South Africa.
The kid that wakes up from a township,
he has the same dream
as the next kid in the suburbs,
so he doesn't have to move
from where he's comfortable.
Moved away from his family
to try and make something out of himself.
I want him to wake up
and be able to dream,
"I wanna be a doctor.
I wanna be the rugby captain."
"I wanna be the president."
All of this stuff has been achieved now,
and I'm hoping those kids can wake up,
and for us, people who have opportunity,
to be able to use our platform,
use our voices,
and use our resources to go and give back.
Sport
has the power to change the world.
It has the power to inspire.
It has the power to unite people
in a way that little else does.
It speaks to youth
in a language they understand.
Sport
can create hope
where once there was only despair.
It is more powerful than governments
in breaking down racial barriers.
It laughs
in the face
of all types of discrimination.
My faith is everything to me,
and I try and live with it
every single day, but I'm
I'm far from perfect. I make a mistake
each and every single day,
and that's why I have good people
around me who tell me, like,
"This is not you,"
or "This is not what you're here for."
And rugby has helped me get to
some of the stuff that I wanna do.
And I'm hoping that the impact
that I leave is mostly off the field.
Their dad passed,
and then their family, kind of, like,
"We can't have this responsibility,"
and pushed them into homes.
They moved from home to home.
One time, they were separated.
Think after
Seven years ago, I found them.
I was actually chosen
to play against, um, England.
I was part of the group,
but I wasn't playing.
And then it was in PE, took my car out,
my friend had driven my car down,
drove around the township,
and then met my cousin from my mom's side,
he's, like,
"I've seen your brother and sister."
Got him in the car,
picked up one of my best mates,
and we drove to the area.
Then I went to the house,
then my brother walked in,
and, like, all that emotion was
it was crazy.
And then my sister walked in,
and she was just
she didn't know who I was.
But she knew she had a brother.
She walked up to me,
she started touching my face.
She sat on my lap, and from then on,
like, I told them, "I'll come back now."
I left, I went to the shop,
I filled up the car with sweets,
came back, and then I said,
I'll get them for December holidays.
And then took them for the holidays.
As they were supposed to go back,
I wouldn't let them go back.
And my wife was pregnant with my son then.
Then when they came, she gave birth.
And I asked her,
"Please can we keep them?"
She was like, "Of course.
They mean the world to you. So yeah."
What does it mean to you
to be able to look after them,
to be able to have a home,
and to take care of them?
Um, they give me purpose,
to be quite honest. They give me purpose.
You know, me and my mom's relationship
was quite weird.
I never got to see her a lot.
She lived a different, like
She didn't give me what I needed,
my grandmother gave me that,
but I loved her to bits, and
I didn't
I wanted them to have that from me.
If they can't get it from their parents,
I was the only bloodline left.
I wanted to give them
the best opportunity.
I didn't want them to struggle
like I did when I was younger.
And now they have They can dream.
They can be like
any other child, you know?
And, uh, I think so far, it's going well.
Has there been a particular
issue that has really tested you?
I don't know.
I don't know, I don't know.
I think it will come.
It will come.
Me and my dad, uh
I don't remember him a lot
when I was young.
Got a few memories of him.
Obviously, my grandmother
played a huge part.
So we're not that close,
but I would love for us to, but
I think if I had to lose him,
I don't know how I'd be.
Because, I mean, being at Grey
sitting in a hostel,
and I would stand at the window,
and I would see the parents
come pick up their kids,
giving them hugs, kissing them goodbye,
and nobody ever came for me.
Indeed, that's why
I always went to friends' places, um,
and it's something that
I wanted for myself, you know?
Now every time he comes
and watches me play, I try and go
go big, you know, for him.
And I might not be the best brother
or the best parent because
I didn't get that.
I try, but my wife is very strong at that.
So wherever I'm lacking,
she she's good at that
'cause my kids are closer to her,
my brother and sister are closer
'cause she's always there for them.
And Rachel
is a white South African.
- Yeah.
- And so
as an outsider looking
at what has changed in this country,
- it's a beautiful thing
- Yeah.
to see you and Rachel
together as a family.
Does it present challenges still?
Yeah, we faced challenges
at the beginning.
People not agreeing with our relationship,
and some people still don't.
That's none of my business.
I'm happy and my family loves her,
and that's the important thing. And
I always say with people that
post nasty comments and all that stuff
and people always
sometimes on social media,
I'm like,
"I can't be angry at some people
'cause that's how they were raised,
how they were taught."
"That's all that they know."
My grandmother always told me,
"If you love somebody,
doesn't matter who they are,
bring them home." And that's what I did.
In the older generation side
of my family,
they maybe struggled with it a bit,
but they respected my choice
and my judgment.
And they wanted somebody
that loved me and respected me.
End of the day, that's what it
came down to for them,
and they adore him
'cause he is just a lovable human being.
He comes from such humble beginnings,
and I know that a lot of people
know that already,
but he carries that with him
everywhere that he goes,
and it's something that
I fell in love with a long time ago.
It was just that he was so grounded
in where he came from,
and he's never let that go.
"The storm is upon us."
That's the message from
the South African government to its people
as COVID-19 spreads its pain
across the country.
This has been
a month of misery,
of breadwinners not working,
of families struggling to survive,
and of children going to bed
and waking up hungry.
We were a few months away
from launching the foundation.
We weren't expecting to do it so soon.
But, of course, in the COVID state,
um, food security was a big thing.
And I think we had a goal
of feeding 6,000 people,
and I think we're actually close
to 41,000 people now.
And we've traveled
over 15,000 kilometers
'cause we also wanna make sure that
people know in every single program,
that we didn't only target one area,
there's need all around South Africa.
A lot of the stuff that you get
is because of the position you're holding,
and after a while it's gonna go away.
The biggest thing is to try and form
or build something that,
even if your position is taken away,
that you can still carry on
being the person
and still keep on driving the movements
that you're trying to push.
At the end of the day,
the more people you help,
that will give you more joy
than anything else.
What do you think the world
needs more of at this moment?
A lot of things.
A lot of things for the
Just I think if everybody just puts aside
what they want for themselves,
and just think what others need.
And I think if we take that as
global citizens, as people of the world,
as people of South Africa,
and just focus on what South Africa needs,
as a country, to make South Africa better.
You wake up every day, like,
"How can I do my job best
to make sure I bring
something amazing for someone else,
and that can make South Africa better?"
And I think
that's how we won the World Cup.
You saw with coach's speech,
he asked us to play for South Africa,
and that's what we did.
Oh First, it's just
actually, "to dream big."
"To dream big and dream properly, and
dream about things
that people that tell you,
'No, you can't achieve it.'"
"And once you get those dreams,
once you get the positions
that you never asked for or dreamed for,
stand firm and stand strong
because you are chosen for a reason,
you are there for a reason,
and don't be scared.
Don't apologize. Don't be shy."
"Doesn't matter where you come from,
what your background is,
or what your parents have done
or whether they failed."
"You are there for a reason,
and you are there to inspire,
and you are there to tell your story,
and do that as much as you can,
and worry about the problems later."