Exclusive: The Calm, Visionary Leader Driving South Africa Toward Historic World Test Championship Final

Over the last couple of years, Enoch Nkwe has exchanged the coaching hat for the administration suit as he now assumes the director of professional teams and high-performance role at Cricket South Africa. 

Temba Bavuma’s leadership qualities

Nkwe was the stand-in interim team director for the 2019 Proteas Test tour of India before he became assistant coach to Mark Boucher from December 2019 to 2021.

Before he was involved in international cricket, the former quick from Soweto, was head coach of the Johannesburg-based Lions team where he was the first coach to not only discover Temba Bavuma’s leadership qualities but also backed him to assume the position of captain for what is one of the decorated domestic teams in South African structures. 

It was there that Bavuma’s run as captain began and shone, with the batter leading the Lions to various domestic titles. 

Having impressed as captain domestically, Boucher entrusted the batter to captain the white-ball upon Quinton de Kock’s stepping down from the captaincy role in 2020. 

Four years later, the 35-year-old has established himself as one of the top leaders in world cricket, leading the Test team to the top of the World Test Championship and within reach of what would be South Africa’s first-ever final. 

Last year, Bavuma led the One Day International to the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup in India and brought about some decency to the Proteas ODI team having crashed in the group stages of the same competition in the United Kingdom four years prior. 

Reflecting on his days as coach of the Lions team in an exclusive interview with SportsBoom, Nkwe highlighted some of the qualities that struck him about Bavuma, the same qualities that made it clear to him that Bavuma was the right man for the captaincy role.

“Just the person that he is. He’s someone who easily buys into the vision. When I sat down with him and outlined what the Lions vision was and where I wanted to take the team, obviously back then as a coach, he was someone that understood it and bought into it,” Nkwe told SportsBoom in an exclusive interview.  

“He came across as the team man. He would do anything and everything for the team. He never puts himself ahead of the team, and with him, it’s always team first. That was one of the things that I liked about him that he was never scared to put up his hand for the team and put the team in a position of winning. 

“If you look at the (recent) series, particularly with the first innings in Durban, Sri Lanka could have put us on the back foot and the series could have been completely different. 

“For him to understand the situation and the importance of that moment and the importance of the bigger picture (the World Test Championship), he’s someone that put the team in a competitive position. From there, the team responded. 

“That’s something that I discovered about him, he has this aura and presence about that draws everybody towards one goal. The language that he uses is very positive and is that of a true leader. 

“It’s those things that really made me think he would be a complete package to lead the Lions way during that time because he really understood what it actually means to lead. 

“All those qualities put together, I could just see that with him leading the team, we would achieve great things.”

The BLM movement

Perhaps the one quality that stood out the most to Nkwe and the world at large is how Bavuma handles the low moments of the team. Despite being a small man in stature, he fronts up to the media in the conferences and takes full responsibility for the team’s shortcomings. 

The 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, where South Africa found themselves on the wrong end of the Black Lives Matter movement as some of the players including De Kock refused to take a knee in acknowledging the struggles of people of colour worldwide, Bavuma took the knock head on. 

That moment, how he handled it in the press, with him shielding his players, stood out and perfectly describes the type of leader that he is. 

“Despite all the things that he’s actually gone through, from 2021 with the BLM, and everything, he’s always the one that protected the team and put himself before the team,” Nkwe told SportsBoom.  

“He’d rather take the flack than anybody else in the team and for me that’s a good sign of a leader.

Bavuma’s growth as captain

Since handing Bavuma the captaincy role of the Lions team to now where he leads the Test and ODI teams, Nkwe has highlighted that the 35-year-old understands the societal impact that a successful Proteas team could have on the country.  

With the country in desperate need of role models, job creation and inspiration, success for Bavuma and his team could play its role. 

“If you want to improve the South African system and team which would also improve him, he’s always game for that,” said Nkwe. 

“He understands the bigger picture from the society's point of view, including the impact and importance of being a good role model for future generations.”

Nkwe added that Bavuma has matured since captaining the national team. 

“He has matured through the last couple of years. He’s very calm but still has the drive and the energy,” Nkwe told SportsBoom.com. 

“I saw him watching the Test match in PE (2nd Test vs Sri Lanka), every wicket that the bowlers would take, just his expression and body language you would see how passionate he is and it comes back to him understanding the importance of that wicket for that individual but also for the team.

“He’s always been calm but it’s almost like he’s grown that calmness to another level. You can only imagine the level of pressure but he is able to find the emotional and mental balance to lead the ODI team and the Test team knowing that almost every single game of the Test team really counts.”

Bavuma is on the verge of being the first-ever captain to lead South Africa to a World Test Championship final as the Test team requires only one victory to secure a spot in next year’s final at Lord’s. 

South Africa have two more Tests to play in the ongoing 2023/25 cycle and if they beat Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test at SuperSport Park, they are through to the final even before they play the second and final Test at Newlands in Cape Town.