Temba Bavuma benefits from South Africa reforms but

others will struggle | Sport

The house Temba Bavuma grew up in is little different to the others in Rubusana Avenue. There is a
basic, open-sided carport and it has a fresher lick of paint than those alongside it, but the
fundamentals remain the same: 40 square metres protected by brick walls and an old tin roof,
fronted by a yard too small for even French cricket. It is not much, but by the standards of your
average South African township living conditions in Langa are not terrible either.
Related: Bravura display by South Africa's Temba Bavuma can inspire next generation

One block up from Bavuma's house, on the corner of Washington and Harlem Avenue, is Thami
Tsolekile's residence. Bavuma and Tsolekile are two of the seven black Africans to have represented
South Africa in Test cricket since readmission and the only ones who are not fast bowlers. It is no
accident they were raised in the same neighbourhood. At the bottom of Washington Street is Langa
Cricket Club, a club that has also produced a handful of franchise cricketers.
While football has always been the most popular sport in the townships, drive through Langa and it's
likely you'll disrupt a street cricket match. The game's roots in Cape Town's oldest township stretch
back decades, past the time of Ben Malamba, the Langa resident who toured Kenya in 1958 with a
non-racial Springbok team captained by Basil D'Oliveira. Tsolekile's grandfather Hlubi Zibi
represented Western Province while Bavuma grew up under the wing of three uncles who all played
at various levels. "They're always throwing advice so I'm sure I'll be hearing from them tonight,"
Bavuma said after becoming the first black African to score a century for South Africa.
Bavuma's path from Langa to Newlands lore required more than a local club and some family advice.
The son of a journalist, he was born into a lower middle-class family in 1990, the year Nelson
Mandela was released from prison. The increasing equality in the country meant he was able to
attend the South African College Schools, an all-white institution in the dark days of apartheid.
When Bavuma was 13 his father, Vuyo, got a job at a Johannesburg newspaper and the family moved
north, where Bavuma Jr received his secondary education at St David's, another top private school.
In his final year he became the first black African from the Gauteng region to make the SA schools
side, giving him confidence that cricket could become more than just a passion.
Although Makhaya Ntini remained the only black African regularly in the Proteas side at that time
Bavuma found plenty of black mentors in Gauteng. In 2008, he made his first-class debut for the
province, coached by Lawrence Mahatlane, a Soweto stalwart who will oversee South Africa's
defence of the Under-19 World Cup that starts this month. The next season Geoffrey Toyana, another
product of Soweto, moved from his job at Easterns to take over at Gauteng.

As a left-handed batsman in the 1990s and 2000s

Toyana was a pioneer at a time when almost all
black provincial cricketers were bowlers. An
ebullient character who has graduated to head
coach of the Lions, the Johannesburg-based
franchise, he has overseen Bavuma's rise through
the ranks. Last season the Lions easily won the
Sunfoil Series, South Africa's premier first-class
competition, with Bavuma scoring 555 runs in seven matches at an average of 69.37. "My first
impressions with Temba was that he was quite short, but he's a brave little boy. He's a fighter - he's
not scared of the ball," said Toyana.
"But the biggest thing for me is his work ethic. There are times when I'm just sitting at home and I
get a call, and I say: 'No, Temba, take a break. I'm married; I've got to spend time with my wife as
well.' And he says: 'No, come coach, come.' Sure enough, I come in to the nets and he bats until my
arm is messed up."
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Bavuma's unbeaten 102 against England was the best

possible response to suggestions he was picked only on
racial grounds. South Africa's selectors have a commitment
to fielding four players of colour, including one black
African, although Cricket South Africa have an aversion to
the word quota. Even in its absence non-white players often
carry an unfair stigma, something that Hashim Amla can
relate to. "Temba and I have very similar careers," Amla
said. "The first time you play Test cricket everybody doubts you because of the colour of your skin.
Even though you've got the stats to back it up domestically."
The idea behind CSA's guidelines, which extend to six players of colour, including three black
Africans, in domestic cricket, is that the presence of these players can inspire the next generation.
Few would dispute it after Bavuma's emotional feat. "I looked at the kids here today for the KFC
event during lunchtime and half of those kids come from Langa and most of those kids know my
name, so whenever I go back to Langa now I know I am going to have those kids running around
me," he said.
Yet it will take more than his influence to turn those children into professional cricketers. More than
half of black children grow up in poverty and the majority of government schools do not play cricket.
It was no coincidence that Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada, the current torchbearers, came from middleclass families and attended private schools with excellent facilities. By the time most black
cricketers leave school they are too disadvantaged to catch up with their white counterparts.

CSA have tried to stem the divide recently by setting up 11 regional performance centres and 46 hub
clubs around the country that will offer some facilities and formal playing structures to eager

cricketers from disadvantaged areas. It is a start, albeit one that comes more than two decades after
South Africa achieved majority rule. Bavuma's innings has ignited his international career and
inspired a nation, but South Africa's journey to a representative cricket team still has a long way to
go.