South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and is the 25th largest country in the world by area and the 24th most populous country with over 51 million people.

South Africa is a multi-ethnic nation and has diverse cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. Two of these languages are of European origin: English and Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language.

About 80% of the South African population is of black African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status. South Africa also contains the largest communities of European, Asian, and racially mixed ancestry in Africa.

South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. It has the largest economy in Africa, and the 28th-largest in the world.

Johannesburg , is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Cape Town is the second-most populated city in South Africa. The city is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, as well as for such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is also Africa's most popular tourist destination^.

Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive (administrative) and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.

Wrestling in South Africa

Wrestling in South Africa it has two names, wrestling in English and
Stoei in Afrikaans. The South African Wrestling Federacion is divided into 14 provincial associations and has about 80 wrestling clubs.

 
left: South african Team at 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and rigth: Rising Star Jason Beukes

International Situation

Because of the apartheid policies Sport in South Africa Sports was excluded from 1971 to 1992 from international competitions.
Because South Africa is geographically so far away from the strong European Wrestling Nations, the international exchange was difficult and expensive. While European wrestlers set for an international tournament for a couple of hours on the bus, the South Africans have to fly halfway around the world.
In 1998, the South African Capital Pretoria host the Junior World Championships. Carel Crous from Welkom (Orange Free State), in the Bantamweight (57kg) Greco was able to celebrate his Silver Medal with his home crowd. At the Junior World Championships in 2006 in Guatemala City 50Kg Wrestler Pieter van der Schief came in third in freestyle. In the senior world championships 2010 in Moscow Heinrich Barnes (Pretoria) wrestled a very strong tournament and was seventh. At the Youth World Championships (Cadet) 2013 in Zrenjanin/Serbia, Freestyle-Wrestler Linus van Rensburg won the Bronce Medal in the 76Kg Categorie.
Since South Africa's re-admission to the Olympics (from 1992), the following wrestlers were able to attend this spectacle: John Roussow, Barend Labuschagne, Tjaart du Plessis, Ian Du Toit, Shaun Williams and Henry Barnes.
On the African continent, Egypt is the strongest wrestling nation, but the South Africans always win numerous medals at the continental level. In recent years, Henry Barnes, Richard Adinell, Gerald Meyer, Shaun Williams and Entienne van Huysten were successful.
The ex president of the South African wrestling Federacion Dr. Willem Putter is a multiple “ Veteran” world champion in the middleweight.

National Situation

The Wrestling (Stoei) in South Africa has a long tradition. At the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928 took part for the first time a South African wrestler. Rugby and wrestling were more traditional sports of the whites, while blacks rather play football/soccer.
Since the political changes, also operate more and more black People in wrestling. The political and sporting isolation, wrestling could not develop as in other countries . Today, the vast distances and the high costs inhibit this development. The South African clubs make a good Job for young talents, but many wrestlers end their athletic career with the entry into professional
Also two German top wrestlers he moved to South Africa in the sixties., The multiple German champion from ESV Neuaubing Johann Sterr and the legendary Wilfried Dietrich. The Olympic champion of Rome, died in 1992 in Durbanville, a suburb of Cape Town.
In South Africa, the Freestyle is more popular than it is Greco / Roman. The best clubs are in the province of Gauteng (Johannesburg and Pretoria). The top clubs are Centurion,
Menlo Park, Reitz, Alberton and Pretoria Tuks. The brothers bosses are the "Makers" in Cape Town, where there are also 6 Wrestling clubs.

The South African Wrestling Federation is very well organized and has an excellent website (in English), with exact locations of the clubs on Google Maps.

Trip Recomendation:

 Would you like to make a round trip or a trainings camp in South Africa, we recommend the travel agency Paarl Safari.
Annet Maas and Erwin Göstl come from Germany and operated a Travel Agency since 2005 in Paarl, near Cape Town. They organize sports travel and have relations to wrestlers For more information on their website.

           http://www.paarl-safari.de/

Homepage South African Wrestling Federacion

http://www.wrestling.org.za/index.html

Wrestling Clubs in South Africa at Google Maps.

http://maps.google.co.za/maps/ms?msid=204770947646037995562.0004ab902f7d2a83b1464&msa=0&ll=-28.265682,25.620117&spn=12.697294,19.665527

List of Clubs Wrestling Clubs in South Africa

Contact:
 

For general enquiries please contact Manie van den Berg (Secretary General) sawrestl@mweb.co.za or directly at 082 922 9411.

Executive Management 2017-2020

Honorary President – Jannie Taljaard
President – Sakkie Bosse
Vice-President – Charles Villet
Vice-President – Corrie Van Der Walt
Vice-President – Jeanne-Marie Coetser
Secretary-General – Manie van den Berg