'We want to make an impact wherever we lay our feet' - Akani launches Akani Simbine Foundation

While most professional athletes choose to wait until they have retired to begin a life of philanthropy, Akani Simbine has hit the ground running. The Olympic silver medalist who is still at the peak of his 100m powers has officially launched the Akani Simbine Foundation with the aim of making a positive impact in the lives of vulnerable young children across South Africa. Attended by guests including Athletics South Africa (ASA) president James Moloi, acting CGA president Karabo Mabilo and Akani’s good friend, women’s 800m great, Caster Semenya, the launch took place at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways on Friday 7 February where Simbine announced that his wife Terisa will help him to run the organisation while he continues to compete around the world.

"I have seen people that don’t have. I want to be able to help change someone’s life. That's where the idea for the foundation came from. Making an impact on someone’s life can change their future. That’s the whole purpose of the foundation because if we can change one child’'s life, they can change another’s life and hopefully, the cycle continues," he told #TheTopRunner. 

Simbine with his wife Terisa at the launch of the Akani Simbine Foundation. Photo Credit: Lebohang Pita.

While it may have sounded to some like just another box checking exercise by a celebrity, it turns out that the Commonwealth Games gold medalist has been an undercover philanthropist for some time. Amazulu FC Academy's fitness and conditioning coach Amanda Sithole-Mhlongo testified during the event that Akani helped pay her tuition to complete her master’s degree and she hopes that he will continue to touch people's lives.

The foundation will work primarily in sports development, education and health, using sport as its vehicle to reach children through athletics while teaching them life skills. Known as the 919 programme, the initiative is already underway in two schools and has partnered with organisations such as Biogen, which provides nutrition for children in the 919 program, Midesk, which donates multifunctional desks to schools and Fast Lane athletics, which helps with coaching during visits to schools.

One of the schools where the Akani Simbine Foundation has already been active.

Because the primary objectives of the foundation is helping vulnerable children, Akani and Terisa want to end up with their own fully equipped sports centre which the future champions can call home. While working towards the acquisition of that training facility, their immediate goal is to supply the youngsters of the 919 programme with sports gear, running shoes and transportation to and from competitions.

Terisa echoed her husband’s sentiments saying the Akani Simbine Foundation is all about doing what they feel is right in their hearts. "It's what we are passionate about. It's what we do in our private lives. We believe that joining forces can make a bigger change and a greater impact. We want to involve the community. We don’t want to limit ourselves. We want to create a village to help raise these children to achieve great things," she said.

The Simbine's have started the process of raising the funds needed to drive their foundation forward. Autographed spikes from Simbine, Semenya and World 400m record-holder Wayde van Niekerk raised R108 000 for the foundation during an auction which took place at the launch. Simbine's shoes, which he wore at #Paris2024, went for R52 000 while Semenya's and Van Niekerk's fetched R36 000 and R20 000, respectively.