- Manie Libbok is seen as a beacon of hope for many in Humansdorp, his hometown
- The community in Humandorp hosted a “National Manie Libbok Day” on 22 October
- Manie Libbok thanked the community in Humansdorp for their support
As the Springboks travel through the country as part of their Webb Ellis Trophy tour, the community in Humansdorp, a small town in the Kouga Municipality, Eastern Cape, is celebrating the success of local rugby player, Manie Libbok who has become a “beacon of hope” to many after his debut as a Springbok fly-half at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Emile Swini, spokesperson for Libbok’s mother, Lena, said that as a young boy growing up in Humansdorp, Libbok always loved sports, especially cricket, and rugby.
“Manie loved playing sports in the street where he grew up and the nearby field with his friends and family,” said Swini.
After completing primary school at Graslaagte Primary School in Humansdorp, Libbok began his high school education at Daniel Pienaar Technical High School in Kariega, about 80km from Humansdorp, and then later transferred to Outeniqua High School in George in the Western Cape, where he completed high school.
As part of his journey as a rugby player, he played for South African Schools, the Blue Bulls, the Sharks and he is currently playing for the Stormers.
Libbok’s hard work and dedication to rugby saw him being chosen for the South African national rugby team, the Springboks which allowed him to represent his country at the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.
“Manie’s family and the community of Humansdorp is very proud of how far he has come in his career as a rugby player and we are proud that he was able to represent his country at the Rugby World Cup,” said Swini.
Further speaking about Libbok’s achievements, he said that the young rugby player has become a ”beacon of hope” for many people in their community.
“Manie always says that he plays rugby to give hope to people from the Humansdorp community, especially the young children,” said Swini.
The day after South Africa was crowned as the Rugby World Cup champions on October 28, the community visited Lena’s home in Meyer Street where Libbok grew up.
Swini further said that BJ Limitless Entertainment generously hosted the community at Twisters Clubhouse in Humansdorp where each rugby game was live streamed on a large screen for those who were unable to watch the games at home.
He said that the community was able to watch each rugby game at no extra cost, however, they charged an entrance fee of R10 for the finals on October 28.
In the video seen below Libbok thanked the community of Humansdorp for the support they showed him throughout the Rugby World Cup.
“The support means a lot to me, and I appreciate it,” said Libbok.
He further thanked BJ Limitless Entertainment and Twisters Clubhouse for offering the community a place to watch the Rugby World Cup.
Community member, Hansie Stompies said that for some time he had been thinking about hosting an event to acknowledge Libbok’s contribution to rugby, not only as a member of the national Springbok team but as a young man who worked hard to accomplish his goals.
“We wanted to show him that Humansdorp has seen his talent and supported him as a rugby player in the junior Springbok team, Blue Bulls, Stormers, and now as a member of the Springbok team,” said Stompies.
While deliberating how he was going to celebrate Libbok, he said that his wife, Jolyka, encouraged him to host an event for the community which they referred to as “National Manie Libbok Day” on October 22.
The event was initially meant to take place on October 20 ahead of the World Cup semi-finals where South Africa played against England on October 21, but since it rained, the event was rescheduled for October 22.
Thankfully, with help from Pieter Eksteen, Alfred Arends, Swini, and Eacelon Ketteldas who immediately jumped on board to help Stompies plan, the event was a great success.
He said that as part of the event, which was well-attended by Libbok’s greatest supporters, the community of Humansdorp, they had Elton Juba, principal of Graslaagte Primary who made the school’s field available for the event, speak about Libbok’s legacy.
Stompies said that they also had Apostle Hans Paulse and Apostle Marshall say a prayer for the Springbok team as they continued to work hard to make it to the finals of the Rugby World Cup.
“As a community, we also enjoyed singing our national anthem wholeheartedly,” said Stompies.
To add a unique touch to the event, he said that they gathered the community together to spell out Libbok’s name which was captured on drone footage taken by Remano Stompies.
The photographers on the day were Phillip Stompies, Jonathan Phyllis, and Remano Stompies while a live stream of the event was captured by Marshall Geswint.
Local photographer, Phyllis said that they were surprised to see how many people gathered on the day to support the event.
He said that for their small community, it is a huge honour to have someone from Meyer Street in Humansdorp represent the national rugby team on such a big platform.
“The community of Humansdorp is crazy about Manie. The little kids, even those at the daycare centres know his name,” said Phyllis.
“We hope that he will visit Humansdorp soon to show us the Webb Ellis Trophy and his gold medal.”
