#TeamSikhaba: National campaign to reignite SA’s fighting spirit against Covid
I was invited by Dave Duarte, my former boss at Treeshake, to join as Campaign Director for Sikhaba iCovid-19—a national radio show broadcast daily on 40 stations across South Africa, in partnership with the Department of Health, SABC Radio, and supported by the Solidarity Fund.
At the time, Covid-19 cases were at an all-time high, yet public fatigue around existing communications was setting in. The challenge: how do you cut through the noise and reignite a sense of urgency, solidarity, and hope?
Campaign Concept
As South Africa moved into the predicted peak of Covid-19 transmission, it was clear that another round of generic health messaging wouldn’t cut it. People were tired, overwhelmed, and tuning out. What the country needed was a big moment to rally around—something that could cut through fatigue and reignite our fighting spirit.
South Africans rally around team sports like nothing else. Sport stars are heroes, aspirational figures, and symbols of unity in a diverse nation. Taking inspiration from New Zealand’s “team of 5 million,” we reframed the pandemic as the biggest derby of the year: South Africa vs. Covid-19.
The campaign hashtag #TeamSikhaba (“Team Kick It!”) captured this energy, creating a national team for everyone to join. We used the language of soccer, attack and defence strategies, as a simple, powerful metaphor for how to beat the virus. We asked South Africans, including leading soccer players, “How will you shibobo Corona?”
At its core, the campaign aimed to build solidarity, community, and hope, removing stigma and reminding people that the only way to win was to play as one team.
The Execution
MATCH DAY MOMENT
With limited time and budget, we built the campaign around a single rallying point: The Derby of the Year – South Africa vs. Covid-19. On July 30th, we staged a national “match day,” with content going live across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and 40 radio stations in all 11 official languages (listed here)
The #TeamSikhaba strategy was simple and relatable:
Defence: protecting yourself (masks, distancing, handwashing, getting help).
Attack: protecting others (sharing your status, tackling stigma, staying home when sick).
This gave people an easy way to understand the rules of play, and join the team.
Formal campaign graphics were translated in all 11 languages.
BUILDING THE SQUAD
To spark national pride, we needed heroes. We partnered with the South African Football Association (SAFA) and brought in their U21 Women’s Team, followed by stars like Kermit Erasmus and Thamsanqa Mkhize. Then came our “coach”: legendary broadcaster Robert Marawa, who delivered a national “locker-room talk”, a halftime pep talk reminding South Africans that we were 1-0 down to Covid and needed a comeback. His involvement ignited momentum, pulling even more voices onto the team.
Because of my previous work with Cape Town City Football Club during my time at Fell+Co, I was able to connect directly with their team manager to request player support. This led to legendary Bafana Bafana and CTFC captain Thamsanqa Mkhize joining the campaign by sharing his own defence and attack strategies.
FANS IN THE STANDS
We equipped South Africans with a share pack of ready-to-use content, from memes, graphics, and posts in every official language, and asked them to add their voices. The response was extraordinary: academics, civil society leaders, medical experts, soccer fans, and everyday citizens all joined in. Thousands shared how they would shibobo Corona, turning #TeamSikhaba into a genuine rallying point for hope, solidarity, and action.
Results
Trended on Twitter nationally (a big milestone considering Sikhaba was a new account with less than 10 followers when the campaign kicked off.)
15.4 million people reached on Twitter
Over 740,000 people reached on Facebook
More than 45,000 people interacted with the content across platforms
Over 3,000 people created original posts in support of the campaign
Fun social graphics I created for the campaign
