Makazole Mapimpi Bio

BRIEF BACKGROUND.

Mapimpi was born on 26 July 1990 in a rural area called Tsholomnqa, which is situated in Mdantsane District in Eastern Cape, South Africa. He studied at Jim Mvabasa SS School, in King Williams Town. He did not attend any prestigious rugby schools. Mapimpi and his siblings were taken care of by his grandmother after his dad abandoned their family years before. In 2004 his mother died in a car accident.  Five years later, his sister succumbed to an illness in her brain and his brother was electrocuted by electricity cables. He was left all alone.

 “I’ve been through a lot. When people spoke about family stuff, when I was young, I would keep quiet. It would hit me. I would realize that I didn’t have this at home. Little things like that would touch me and it would make me go quiet. Sometimes it would stay with me for a few days,” said Mapimpi in an interview with the Telegraph.

CAREER.

Things started coming together for the 30-year-old after the death of his mother. He joined and played for the Border Bulldogs, from 2014 to 2016. He played in the 2014 and 2015 Vodacom Cup as well as the 2014 and 2015 Currie Cup. In April 2017, he signed with the Free State Cheetahs after scoring 11 tries in 14 starts for the Southern Kings. He later on joined the Sharks in 2018. Mapimpi made his test debut for the Springboks on 2 June 2018 against Wales in Washington, D.C. at the age of 27. He was then included in the team for the Rugby Championship campaign of 2019.

RWC 2019.

Mapimpi was included in the 2019 Rugby World Cup South Africa’s squad. In the tournament he scored 6 tries, of which two were in the quarter final match against Japan in a 26–3 victory and one in the final against England where the Springboks won the match with a score of 32-12. Mapimpi became the first player in the history of Springboks to score a try in a Rugby World Cup final. It has become a norm for him to score a try against every team he faces. Makazole gave a spectacular performance in the British and Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. Mapimpi began playing for the Red Hurricanes in Japan in that same year.

RWC 2023.

He played in two matches during the Rugby World Cup in 2023. The first was the matchup with Romania, where he was named Player of the Match. Mapimpi missed the remaining games due to a head injury that resulted in a cheekbone fracture during the second match versus Tonga. Makazole is effectively a two-time world champion and the most prolific try scorer for the Springboks between 2018 and 2022. He is currently playing for the Sharks.

OFF THE RUGBY FIELD.

The rugby superstar founded the Makazole Mapimpi Foundation which focuses on raising awareness around the issue of Gender-Based violence, providing quality education to underprivileged youth and increasing opportunities through various sports codes. It was officially launched on the 30^th of November 2022.