Hanging out with the wealthy and influential on the polo fields in Sandton

The event was great, food and drink plenty and everyone who attended seemed to have had a good time at this year’s AON Inanda International Polo, South Africa Versus Argentina event on Saturday.

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

Forget about the fact that many who attended did not even have a clue about what polo playing is all about and what the rules are.

Forget that they did not even bother to know the names of the participants or the names of the horses participating or their stable and who the trainers are.

Of course all these factors mater to those who follow the game, but not to most of the guests that attended the AON Inanda International Polo, South Africa Versus Argentina at the exclusive Inanda Club right in the heart of suburbia Sandton  on Saturday, May 7, 2022.. But of course the members of this exclusive club, which Has been hosting polo games since 1936, and as a matter of fact some guests, were clued about the technicalities of this test international competition sponsored by AON and Bravo Brands.

This test match must have meant a lot for those in the know because of the disruptions of the past two years caused by Covid-19, and therefore took serious what was happening on the fields. But many were happy to be there and have a good time as they got entertained.

And just for the record, South Africa lost to the visiting southern American polo team. And also for the record, though most in the crowd did not understand a thing about the game, they will remember the name Tshabalala, one of the participating young team members who warmed up the fields before the big guys  went into the field with their horses.  Tshabalala’s name was constantly on the lips of the commentators throughout the game.  Whoever the youngster Tshabalala is, had a good day on the field with his horse for he was awarded a prize in the amateur category of this sport for the wealthy. He and the horse he rode and guided meticulously dragged that ball through the poles hockey style. Tshabalala had a good day on the polo fields of Inanda Club on Saturday..

However what seemed to matter most for most of the guests, especially the celebrity type that were part of the guests, was that they had a good time, plenty to drink, sumptuous meals to eat and basically hanging around with the wealthy and knowledgeable when it comes to this rich men’s game.  That was good enough.

After all there is no harm in hanging around with the wealthy and somehow ending up for a few hours, feeling that you are part of them. But that is before having a rude awakening about your real status as you head home to a two bedroom apartment in Scottsville Complex in Kempton Park, as the real deal, the wealthy head to their mansions within Sandton. And that is exactly the point, and that is that at least you shared conversations with them. Never mind that such conversations were nothing more than that: this food is great and the cocktails are out of this world. The point is the real wealthy and the pretenders to the status had fun together and it is OK. This was no time to talk about how the shares are performing on the JSE top 40 companies or where the All Shares Index stands on the bourse. That of course has its time and place, and not on the Polo fields with such an odd mix of people from different backgrounds, pursuing different dreams in life.

Yours truly was interesting in sitting, relaxing and observe the goings on among this interesting crowd, and of course an occasion peak onto the Polo field, especially when I heard the  commentator screaming the name Tshabalala.

And it was interesting to note that the word celebrity in the South African context of today takes on a new meaning these days, whereby anybody who gets to get some 500 000  odd following for saying nothing of substance really on imstagram suddenly becomes a celebrity. And such ‘celebrities’ consequently get invited to top class events to say something, anything to their gullible and uncritical followers about the event.

Many who were seen there, of course with a few exceptions of real celebrities like businessman and Cosmos owner Matsilele Jomo Sono, sports leader Dan Jordaan and sports caster Robert Marawa, to name but a few, are what one would call  social media celebrities.. Sometimes they are called influencers simply because of the followers they command, and some have a huge number of followers indeed.

These are digital content creators  called influencers, people who amass followers on digital platforms by posting some stuff, any stuff and end up getting good money by leveraging on their followers by charging brands for posts promoting a brand  on their platforms as brands  look for new audiences.

The only downside of the proceedings is when the crowd did not give the visitors a hand of applause for their victory at the end of the game, even though prompted  to do so by the commentator. That was definitely unsportsmanlike on the part of the crowd. After all we were the hosts and what happened to the idea of magnanimity even in loss?

Otherwise the event was great, food and drink plenty and everyone who attended seemed to have had a good time at this year’s AON Inanda International Polo, South Africa Versus Argentina event on Saturday.