Photographed by Austin Malema using the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G and styling by Luke Ruiters
Makazole Mapimpi’s drive when the odds seem stacked against him has as much to do with his backstory as proudly representing the Springboks and becoming the first South African to score a try in a World Cup final. The recent recipient of the SA Sports Awards Sportsman of the Year award got there mostly off his own back and is a role model for boys and men alike.
It’s a cloudless summer’s day In Joburg. I’m seated at a table on the piazza at Steyn City’s gourmet XIX restaurant next to Makazole Mapimpi, South Africa’s knight in a green and gold jersey, the man who’s scored a try against every team he’s played in international rugby. (I say this because I can’t believe my luck, not because he needs an introduction.) The 31-year-old has flawless skin even before he’s in the makeup artist’s chair. And he’s ever so softly spoken.
Starstruck golfers nervously approach him during our interview. ‘Makazole! I’m a huge fan of yours,’ says one of them. ‘You make me proud to be a South African.’ They ask him to pose for a photo with them, hand me a phone switched to camera mode and huddle together, their backdrop a verdant golf course, and dead ahead Douw Steyn’s R250-million palatial home.
A helicopter thunder overhead. A caddy ambles past in a golf cart. Later, photographers, stylists, makeup artists and lighting technicians will fawn over Makazole. In the cigar-lounge-like men’s changing room at Steyn City’s Clubhouse gym, stylist Luke Ruiters will clip back a silk Scotch & Soda shirt to fit him perfectly and complete his loungewear look with Zara pants, Birkenstocks and Arnette eyewear. Then the crew will position him in a tan leather tub chair at the edge of a Kilim rug, surrounded by walnut lockers, opulence. And Makazole will have as much physical prowess as a model as he does on the rugby pitch. He’ll sing along when GQ editor-in-chief Molife Kumona plays Q-Mark &TPZee’s ‘Paris’ over a portable speaker wheeled into the room to set the mood. The song is in Zulu, which shares similarities with his home language Xhosa. Click here to get your digital copy now and read the full cover story.
Behind The Scenes with Cover Star Makazole Mapimpi