The 10 most interesting sports stories to look forward to in 2025 - Part 1

JOHANNESBURG - We’re only a couple of weeks into the new year and quite a lot has already happened in South African sports. 

Henk Lategan leads standings in the car category at the Dakar Rally at the half-way mark in the endurance race, Royal AM are embroiled in a financial mess that threatens the club’s existence and 18-year-old Kwena Maphaka became South Africa’s youngest Test cricketer in history in the Test against Pakistan at Newlands.

There’s plenty of cause to believe this will be an eventful year on the local sporting front. Here’s some of what we can look forward to in 2025:

The Springbok Tour to New Zealand

The first huge test that the Springboks will face this year will be in September when they play the All Blacks. The world champions will play both of those matches in New Zealand, where they haven’t won since the 36-34 victory they recorded in 2018. The Boks will begin their season in July with two internationals against Italy and one against Georgia before hosting Australia in two games. Test rugby isn’t easy, but Rassie Erasmus’ team will be overwhelming favourites to get through those five matches with five victories under their belt. Despite their four-match winning streak over New Zealand, they will provide the sternest opposition and the first of the two fixtures will have an added layer as it takes place at Eden Park in Auckland where the All Blacks haven’t lost in 50 games, stretching back to 1994.

South Africa’s bid to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix

If all goes well, South Africa could be back on the F1 calendar in 2027. The F1 Bid Steering Committee is currently in the process of finding a potential promoter for the event and is evaluating proposals from entities seeking to be part of the country’s official bid. While the Kyalami circuit is in pole position to host the race, bidders from Cape Town, the Free State and the Eastern Cape have also expressed interest in staging the country’s first F1 grand prix since 1993. The process will be concluded at the end of February when the formal bid will then be sent to the government for approval.  

Rwanda also signaled its intention to submit a bid, but Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie isn’t deterred and is adamant that both countries can be successful and host races in the same year.

The owners of Formula 1 will make the final decision at a later date.

The Kaizer Chiefs trophy drought approaches

When Kaizer Chiefs won the league title in May 2015, it would have been unimaginable for the club’s fans that the next time they would see Amakhosi lifting a trophy would be a decade later. Chiefs are on the verge of completing a 10th season without silverware and the Nedbank Cup will be their last chance to end that drought before then, since the league title is out of reach - at the moment.

Chiefs have been drawn to play Gauteng-based ABC Motsepe League side Free Agents FC in the Nedbank Cup round of 32. It’s not a foregone conclusion that the Glamour Boys will progress to the next round – they have suffered humiliating defeats to lower-league opposition in recent seasons. They suffered an embarrassing elimination last year against second tier Milford FC in a penalty shootout last season.

South Africa’s Athletes at the World Athletics Championships

South Africa’s 4x100m relay team announced themselves to the world at the Paris Olympic Games where they won the silver medal, finishing 0.07 seconds behind Canada. The World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September will represent an opportunity to prove that the second place finish at the Olympics was no fluke. Akani Simbine has been the standard bearer for South African sprinting for many years and with the emergence of young talents like Bayanda Walaza, Bradley Nkoana and Benjamin Richardson, along with Shaun Maswanganyi, there is now an expectation not just to compete but to beat the best in the world.

The Proteas Women play in the Women’s Cricket World Cup in India in October

The Proteas Women’s team has made remarkable strides over the past three years, since the last 50-over World Cup where they were knocked out in the semi-finals. Two appearances in the T20 World Cup final have followed in 2023 and 2024 but they haven’t been able to get over the last hurdle and win an ICC title. There are encouraging signs that the team can become a world champion – they’ve registered historic wins against England and Australia – all while rebuilding after the retirements of stalwarts like Mignon du Preez, Shabnim Ismail, Lizelle Lee and Dane van Niekerk.

South Africa’s hopes will rest largely on captain Laura Wolvaardt and all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, who are global superstars in the women’s game. Nadine de Klerk and Annerie Dercksen are coming into their own as international cricketers while Nonkuleko Mlaba is capable of being one of the best spinners in the world.