South Africa

South Africa has a history of organized sports and has played host to large sports events, which have depended on high numbers of volunteers. Annual events, such as Comrades Marathon (±20,000 entrants), Cape Town Cycle Tour (30,000 participants), Two Oceans Marathon (34,000 participants), and once-off major events such as the All-Africa Games in 1999 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, depended on volunteers for their successful presentation. In the latter mega event, a volunteer program was developed, which was a critical success factor. The program introduced a template for volunteer management in South Africa, focusing on establishing a well-structured, well-resourced national program intended to be used by sports federations and national bodies and at other events. This chapter situates volunteerism in South Africa in “Ubuntu,” its broader cultural and philosophical context, as well as in contemporary sports policy imperatives and challenges linked to the centrality but decreasing numbers of volunteers in sports events. Drawing on this context, it discusses the volunteer program established through the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the subsequent volunteer policy and implementation plan. It then assesses ways in which major events such as the Cape Town Cycle Tour and Two Oceans Marathon leveraged this approach to volunteerism in sports events. In the sports arena, volunteers have been and remain a core component of sports delivery in South Africa. However, a closer analysis will show that the pool of volunteers is dwindling, insufficient younger people are volunteering, and health, safety, and security policies are becoming increasingly onerous on sports organizations.