Bryan Habana has offered his support to Tatjana Smith after South Africa’s most decorated Olympian changed her international swimming allegiance to the Netherlands.
Smith’s decision has dominated South African sports coverage this week. In an emotional social media statement on Tuesday, 10 November, the four-time Olympic medallist said the move would allow her to continue her career in an environment where she could “thrive” instead of merely “survive”.
The 29-year-old has previously spoken about her dysfunctional and virtually non-existent relationship with Swimming South Africa. She has also described the financial difficulties faced by South African swimmers trying to pursue their ambitions in a non-mainstream sport.
Former Springbok wing Habana was among several high-profile South Africans to respond to Smith’s statement.
“Onwards and upwards,” Habana wrote in the comments.
Another former Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok, Kobus Wiese, used X to criticise the way some athletes were treated as a lower priority than politicians.
“The budget goes first to pay for 1st class tickets / hotels for ministers and all the ‘hangers on’, instead of to athletes and their coaches,” Wiese said.
Speaking to 702’s Bongani Bingwa, Olympic gold medallist Ryk Neethling said South African swimmers had dealt with difficulties for a “very long time”.
“It was an uphill battle. Our experience at the 2004 Olympics was horrific,” he said.
On the same broadcast, Swimming South Africa’s Zikie Molusi acknowledged that Smith’s prize money from the 2023 World Aquatics Championships should not have been withheld.
Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie wished Smith well in a statement, while explaining the relationship between the government and national sporting federations.
“The public needs to understand how sport is run in South Africa. National federations are deliberately independent of government. They are governed by their own boards and answer to their international bodies. Where the Department funds a federation, the federation must account for that money – but the Department does not run federations, and it cannot take on all of their costs.
“That includes the significant cost of competing internationally. The people who lead federations are responsible for running their affairs sustainably and for attracting the partners and sponsors who can pay for these costs. SA Rugby does not ask the Department to pay for the Springboks to play overseas, even though it needs billions of rands each year to run their sport.
“That is the standard every federation should aim for. The Department is aware of the problems at Swimming South Africa, including concerns athletes have raised. These problems are being dealt with through a reform process that is under way and includes oversight from World Aquatics. The Department will keep monitoring that process closely.”
Smith announced her retirement from competitive swimming after the Paris 2024 Olympics, but reversed that decision and returned to competition at the South African Short-Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg in September.
Her first international assignment for the Netherlands is expected to be the short-course world championships in Beijing, China, from 1 to 6 December 2026.
