John Smit was the 51st captain of the South African national rugby union team, as well as the captain of the KwaZulu Natal provincial team, the Sharks, for numerous seasons.

Smit played his first Springbok game in 2000 at the age of 22, when South Africa beat Canada 51-18 at Basil Kenyon Stadium in East London. In 2004 he was made captain of the squad by then, new coach, Jake White.

Smit has walked a long road together with both the ex Springbok coach and many members of the team, and has not only been a brand ambassador for the eLan Group, but has become involved in the development of Simbithi Eco-Estate, and in fact lives with his family on the Estate.

As a co-developer on Simbithi, John hopes to once again join forces with eLan CEO, Mark Taylor, to develop on Blythedale Coastal Resort.

Smith is currently playing rugby for the French rugby union club Clermonth Auvergne.

Lucas Radebe grew up as one of 11 children in one of the toughest areas of Soweto during one of the most violent times in South African history under apartheid. That he went on to become one of the English Premier League's most respected players - and South Africa's most-capped footballer, with 70 appearances for Bafana Bafana - is in many ways a miracle.

Lucas rose to prominence when he was appointed captain of Leeds United in the English Premiership in 1998, taking charge of a team filled with promising youngsters and some veterans. Under his leadership the Yorkshire club went on to become the force in English football it once had been.

Lucas’s contribution was two-fold: leadership and performance. He was recognised as one of the finest defenders in the Premier League, and earned universal respect from players and fans. Lucas was so thrilled with the Blythedale development that he specifically flew out from Leeds to attend the Launch in Durban, his hometown.

Derek Watts is one of the most famous faces in Africa and admired by all, with the possible exception of the unsavoury characters exposed in his tough investigative reports. Over a million viewers tune into Carte Blanche each week and it's hard to imagine the show without Derek Watts.

Having been involved in journalism for more than 25 years, presenting on South African television since 1985, Derek has been an anchor and presenter on Carte Blanche since the programme's inception in 1988.

Derek's professionalism and excellence is a result of a hardy apprenticeship, including a stint as company commander in the Rhodesian bush war and cadet reporting on the Rhodesia Herald. This passion is evident in his popular corporate presentation "You have the right to know it all”.

Having won the following awards, Derek is a valued Brand Ambassador for the eLan Group:

Gary Bailey, internationally renowned football goalkeeper for England, Manchester United and South Africa, is also a successful businessman and TV presenter. Gary grew up in Johannesburg and won a scholarship at Wits University where he studied Civil Engineering and played soccer for Wits in the first division. At the age of 18 he was chosen to represent South Africa and, shortly after that, Gary was signed by a “small club” in England called Manchester United, where he stayed for 10 cold years playing nearly 400 games for the club. During this time, Gary was selected to play for England and at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, he injured his knee and was forced to retire from the professional game. Gary returned to South Africa and played part-time for local glamour side Kaizer Chiefs for 2 years before retiring for good.

Since then Gary has focused on his TV career and with Supersport’s broadcast throughout Africa, he is a household name on our continent. During that time, Gary added to his physics degree by completing an MBA from Henley in Oxford. Gary was asked by Danny Jordaan to be one of South Africa’s official ambassadors for the Soccer World Cup bid and Gary spent much time with Danny touring the Far East and was at the announcement in Zurich. With his contacts in local soccer, his knowledge of the World Cup event and his business background ­ Gary is an ideal ambassador, not only for the 2010 World Cup, but for the whole of South Africa.

Patricia was born in Gauteng, where she matriculated at Mondeor High, and has become one of the most recognised Afrikaans singers and entertainers, with a massive following.

Having been part of the entertainment industry for the past 16 years, her album, “Ek Is Lief Vir Jou,” achieved sales of 125 000, making her the best-selling female music artist in the history of South Africa. “Wie Sou Jou Kon Liefhê Soos Ek,” reached gold status on the day it was released.

In total, Patricia has sold in excess of 600 000 copies of her various releases. Since the Patricia Lewis, Olivia Newton-John Gold Hits CD achieved gold status, Patricia has released another two albums: “’n Nuwe Lewe” and, most recently, “Supersterre”. She also produced the “Supersterre 2” album. Patricia hosted the SABC 2's reality series “Blonde Ambisie” in which she introduced the Supersterre concept and is the creator of the stand alone series which is premiering as Supersterre 2.

Leon Schuster has become a South African icon as one of the country’s most successful filmmakers and comedians. He always knew he wanted to be involved in making movies… and he loved sport. So his ideal job, then, was to become a sports commentator.

Initially joining the SABC as a presenter, Leon soon began hosting a radio show called “Vrypostige Mikrofoon”. This is where he put his comical persona on the map and where his career as a prankster kicked off. Remaining with the programme for over six years, Leon found himself approached with so many opportunities outside the SABC, that he was enticed to go solo and start his own one-man show.

His audience has changed with the times – he now has the challenge of having to please all South Africans (and this includes 11 official languages with their own set of varied cultures!). His movies have always been loved by people of all ages, and today he has a growing black audience too.

With successful movies such as “Oh Shucks its Schuster”, “Mr Bones” and “Mama Jack”, Leon Schuster has become a worldwide ambassador for South Africa on the whole.

Scott is one of South Africa's most popular radio and TV personalities. Making his debut on Capital Radio, then moving to 702 and presenting a show on 5FM between 3 and 7 pm, Darren is certainly one of the best known voices in South Africa. He also has a high TV profile, anchoring programmes on Supersport.

Not long ago, Darren popped up whenever you switched on Supersport, either as an anchor live from a rugby match or, more often, involved in studio banter with rugby legend Naas Botha.

Darren still presents “Boots & All”, compulsive viewing for anybody interested in Rugby. He owns a company that provides a variety of sports footage for TV, as well as being an active media agency for radio.

Scott's boy-next-door image has served him well from his early days at Capital Radio to his first sports talk show on 702 Radio to the latest "Just Plain” Show which is Darren's daily show on ECR from 12h00 - 15h00 and his 6h00 to 9h00 show on Radio Jacaranda. Attending events around the country on a regular basis, and with his past experience, Darren is unique in relaying inspiring stories and using his brilliant sense of humour, making every event an unforgettable evening.

Butch represented the SA under-21 side in 1999 and 2000, and in 2001 he made his Super 12 debut for the Sharks against the Bulls and later that year made his Springbok debut while still 21-years-old. However between 2002 – 2006 serious injuries to both knees hampered his Springbok career.

However, he made his long awaited return to Test rugby in the South African 2006 Tri Nations campaign and was a member of the South Africa squad that toured England and Ireland. He started the 2007 Tri Nations as first choice fly half for South Africa. Butch is considered one of the toughest fly halves around.

When he first entered the Test scene he was considered a liability because of his often high and dangerous tackling and was heavily policed by referees. Since then he has worked on that aspect of his game and is now known as a tough tackling fly half.His handling and innovation are also well respected.

Butch is considered to be an energetic inspirational team player is set to be an invaluable asset to his team. Butch James currently plays for Bath in England.

Jonty was born in Pietermaritzburg and after matriculating from Maritzburg College went on to complete a B.Com degree at the University of Natal (Pmb). The man many people regard as the greatest fielder of all time, Jonty was voted the best fielder in cricket by the players in 2002. In 1992 he made his first Test debut at Kingsmead against India and his first ODI debut against Australia at Sydney in the same year.

On the 14 November 1993 he took 5 catches in one match to set a record for the most dismissals by a fielder (excluding wicket-keeper) and holds the world record for the most dismissals by a non-wicketkeeper in ODI’s. During his career he also played for the Irish cricket team and played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, KwaZulu-Natal and Natal. Rhodes retired from Test cricket in 2000, and from one day cricket in 2003 after an injury during the 2003 Cricket World Cup ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. Jonty played 52 tests before retiring from test cricket in 2003.

In 1992 Rhodes also represented South Africa at hockey, and was chosen as part of the Olympic Games squad to go to Barcelona, however the squad did not qualify to go to the tournament. He was also called up for trials to play in the 1996 Olympics but due to a hamstring injury he was ruled out.

Jonty is currently an account executive with Standard Bank and the fielding coach for the “Proteas”, the South African National Cricket team.

Gary became one of the best known central defenders in English football in the 1980s and was a versatile player who also excelled in midfield. He initially played for Bristol Rovers in 1977 before joining the first division club Tottenham Hotspur, where he became captain and won 16 caps for England, and scored one goal for England against Yugoslavia in 1986. Gary was recognised for his sporting achievements with an MBE.

Mabbutt was diagnosed at the age of 17 with diabetes, and became an icon for many diabetic children. He has appeared in the BBC's children's television program Blue Peter as well as in the drama series “The Queens Nose”. With Tottenham Hotspur, he won the UEFA Cup in 1984 and the FA Cup in 1991. Gary has played over 600 games for Spurs. His father Ray was a professional footballer and his brother Kevin also went on to make a living out of the game.

It was the classic case of growing up in an environment where a football was a permanent presence. Gary grew up as a West Ham fan and excelled at schoolboy level where his talents caught the attention of the scouts.

Gary remains famous in Coventry where the unofficial Coventry City fanzine is named Gary Mabbutt's Knee, following his own goal which gave them victory in the 1987 FA Cup Final Gary retired at the age of 37 and currently appears as one of the FA’s advisors on the much-publicised ‘video panel’ and has forged a successful career that mixes media work with various roles. Now an International Sports Ambassador, he successfully led the bid for South Africa to host the World Cup in 2010.

André has been a Professional Golfer competing all over the globe for 21 years. He has also presented two TV Magazine programmes (Voorgee & Golf Bag) and does golf commentating. André has been acknowledged as the SA Golfer with the most victories during the Winter section of the Sunshine Tour of SA Professional Golf. He has won 13 events as an amateur and as a professional, 14 tournaments officially and seven tournaments unofficially.

He has 57 top five finishes in tournaments worldwide. He won a motor car for a hole-in-one at the Stanbic Zambia Open in 2001 and “repeated” this the following year at the same event, same day, different hole! Interestingly enough, he has had 24 hole-in-ones in total! In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, motor racing, horse racing and sports cars.

Ruan Pienaar is a South African rugby player who plays either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half for Natal Sharks in the Currie Cup, the Sharks in the Super 14 and the Springboks. He made his debut for the Springboks in the 2006 Tri-Nations against New Zealand and was a member of the successful 2007 World Cup squad.

Born in Bloemfontein in 1984, Ruan schooled at the prestigious Grey College where he was selected for the Free State Craven Week side in 2002. He is the son of former Springbok fullback Gysie Pienaar.

Ruan possesses a wide range of skills. Besides being able to pass well, he can kick with both feet, and his vision and running style moved former Springbok coach Jake White to compare him with Australian fly-half Stephen Larkham, which is high praise indeed.

Ryan Kankowski is a South African rugby player, who plays for the Natal Sharks provincially, The Sharks in the Super 14 and the Springboks. Ryan is a tall, strong, yet pacey and skilled number 8. He has a natural flair on attack, breaking the line with powerful runs from the back of the scrum, whilst he is unrelenting on defense. His game is reminiscent of that of Zinzan Brooke and he possesses maturity and leadership qualities that belie his age.

He has recently been chosen for the Springbok squad to take on the Lions as well as the Wallabies and All Blacks in the 2009 TriNations.

Ryan spends his downtime at the coast with his family or with friends in the Berg.

Ryk Neethling is one of the most successful swimmers in history to compete for the University of Arizona and the Republic of South Africa. Ryk has participated in the last four Olympic Games for South Africa, winning a Gold Medal and World Record performance in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Ryk, was born and raised in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He attended Grey College in Bloemfontein before going to the States to swim and attend University. After a very successful swimming career over there, he has now returned to South Africa and opened a swimming academy in Johannesburg.

Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira is a Zimbabwean-born South African and Sharks rugby player. He plays as a prop and is fondly known by friends and fans as "The Beast". Rugby fans roar his name whenever he has possession of the ball or makes a big tackle. He made his Springbok debut playing against Wales in a test match on the 14th of June 2008. He recently played for the Boks against the Lions and was awarded the man of the match mantle for his prowess in the scrum against veteran front liner Phil Vickery.

Tendai attended Peterhouse Group of Boarding Schools in Marondera in Zimbabwe.

Jake White was appointed as coach of the Springbok rugby side in 2004. Under his leadership, the side jumped rankings from 6th in the world to 2nd. He led the Springboks to victory in the Rugby World Cup in 2007 and is seen as ‘the’ coach to put the Springboks back where they belong as major competitors in world rugby.

Since his achievements as Springbok coach, Jake has enjoyed other successes in the launch of his autobiography, ‘In Black and White’ and his range of South African wines.

Keegan Daniel plays rugby for the Natal Sharks. Born in the rural farming town of Humansdorp, he started his education at Gonubie Primary before moving off to one of South Africa’s rugby nurseries, Dale College.

Keegan came onto the provincial scene in the Super 14 competition which earned him a place in the South African under 21 team. He was nominated for player of the tournament and went on to claim the South African u21 player of the year for 2006. He has the ability to play flanker, wing, fly-half and fullback because of his blistering speed and kicking ability.

Since then, Daniel has starred for the Sharks at Super 14 level. In the 2008 season he earned man of the match awards in consecutive games against 2007 winners the Vodacom Blue Bulls and the high-flying Auckland Blues.

Schalk burst on to the rugby scene in 2003 after playing for the U21 Springbok side that won the 2002 U21 Rugby World Cup. He captained the side the following year and was subsequently selected for the senior Springbok side. He became a regular starter for the Springboks, with his powerful surges on attack and big hits on defence making him the world’s best flanker in 2004 and IRB player of the year 2004.

Schalk has been one of the star performers in SA rugby over the past few years and is viewed as a key player in the SA squad along with John Smit, Victor Matfield and Jean de Villiers.

Hailing from the friendly city of Port Elizabeth, he has enjoyed success in many other sports.