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Cape Town - The South African Hall of Fame is one of the highest accolades any South African sports person can receive.
During the Nedbank Golf Challenge two weekends ago, Sport24 took a walk down to the SA Hall of Fame at Sun Central at the Sun City Resort.
The SA Hall of Fame is for all South Africans and looks to inspire and empower the youth, according to chairperson Johnny Burger.
Since 1908, only 134 South Africans have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, with a large chunk of those associated with the sporting world.
They include Gary Player, Joost van der Westhuizen, Bobby Locke, Penny Heyns, Sally Little, Lucas Radebe, Jomo Sono, Brian Mitchell, Jacob Matlala and Shaun Tomson.
According to Burger, becoming a Hall of Famer is "not an easy task" and nominees need to get majority votes from an independent panel.
"The nice thing about this is that our governance is in place, so we've got an independent panel so any government institution, sporting body or any individual can fill in a nomination form of who they think should be included in the South African Hall of Fame," Burger told Sport24.
"That then goes to the independent panel, of which Hugh Bladen is chairperson. Out of the 10 on the panel, you've got to have 8 who agree that this individual becomes a Hall of Famer - only then will we do their induction.
"To become a Hall of Famer is not an easy task as we've only got 134 Hall of Famers so far."
According to Burger, the South African Hall of Fame is not a museum, but an interactive exhibition.
"It's something that South Africa needs and has been wanting for a long time because we tend to remember politics, but what about our past heroes?" said Burger.
"Who ever knew in 1908 a guy by the name of Reggie Walker won the 100m at the London Olympics in 10.8 seconds and became an Olympic champion?
"We've got to preserve these remarkable achievements in order to bring a message of hope to our youth, who are sometimes in despair, so it's a good-feel initiative and a necessary initiative."
Last week at @AfricasMajor, we visited the @SA_HallOfFame in Sun City pic.twitter.com/7OvVe9Y9jp
— Sport24 (@Sport24news) November 21, 2019
