Heritage isn’t just about looking backwards; it’s about what we build today for the next generation to inherit.
For 17-year-old Vatiswa Mokhonoana and a rising wave of young black drivers, South Africa’s race tracks are becoming the new frontier of cultural history. Through structured development academies and raw talent, they are transforming a historically exclusive sport into a lasting legacy.
Mokhonoana started karting at 15, despite having no family background in racing, and has since progressed into national circuit racing.
Today she races a Toyota GR86 in the National Extreme Festival, competing in a sport that she believes has the potential to become part of the heritage of a new generation of Black South Africans.
“African cultures have room for things that weren’t necessarily part of our parents’ or grandparents’ everyday lives,” she says. “More young Black South Africans are racing, engineering, building cars and creating their own communities in motorsport.
“What our generation becomes passionate about, like racing, can become part of the story and culture that comes after us.”
A history of breaking through
Tschops Sipuka has been a pioneer in the sport.
Born in Qumbu in the Eastern Cape, Sipuka became the first Black South African to win a national motorsport championship when he claimed the Engen Volkswagen Cup title in 2002. He won the championship again in 2003 and went on to race in Formula Volkswagen, international truck racing and endurance events, including the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
His achievements were significant not because of the titles, but because of what they represented at a time when the sport was still overwhelmingly white.
More than two decades later, the landscape has shifted slightly.
Jonathan Mogotsi is another example. He developed his skills through sim racing before entering Volkswagen South Africa's 2016 Driver Search. He earned a Polo Cup drive for 2017, progressed through Polo Cup and SupaCup and became South African Touring Cars SupaCup champion in 2024.
This year he has taken it a step further, racing a Volkswagen Golf 8 TCR at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Neither Mogotsi nor Mokhonoana represent the traditional image of a racing driver who grew up surrounded by racing families but managed to find a way in.
Toyota Gazoo Racing Academy
The Toyota Gazoo Racing Development Academy is another part of the changing landscape.
The programme provides a structured route from karting and junior competition into national circuit racing, with young drivers learning not only racecraft but the technical, physical and mental demands of the sport.
Mokhonoana is one of several Black drivers to have come through the programme, driving GR86s and racing alongside Reagile “Spice” Mailula and Tshepang Shisinwana in 2026, while Khanya Ngwenya was also part of the GR86 field in 2025.
The progression of Jason Coetzee, who won the 2025 GR86 championship before stepping up to South African Touring Cars this year, shows where that pathway can lead.
For Mokhonoana and the other young drivers coming through, the significance is not only in reaching the next level of racing, but in making it increasingly normal to see Black South Africans competing at every level of the sport.
The Volkswagen connection
The idea of finding a way into motorsport is also illustrated by the Volkswagen Polo Cup.
For 30 years, the one-make series has acted as one of South Africa's most effective development categories. Drivers including Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde, Jordan Pepper, Reghard Roets, Graeme Nathan and Sipuka all came through the series before progressing to bigger national and international opportunities.
Not every youngster entering a development series will end up racing internationally, but importantly the pathway exists.
Volkswagen's newer Rookie Cup, introduced in 2023, is designed specifically to bridge the gap between karting and circuit racing for drivers aged 14 to 16. It teaches more than driving technique, including fitness, mental preparation, teamwork, data analysis and media skills.
For Mokhonoana, these programmes are evidence of something bigger: motorsport can become a community rather than an isolated pursuit.
Making space for the next generation
There are still obvious barriers. Motorsport is expensive, technical and often difficult for young people to access without financial backing, sponsors or a supportive team around them.
But representation matters because a youngster watching a race at Kyalami, Zwartkops or Killarney and seeing black drivers on the grid may view the sport differently from someone who has never seen anyone who looks like them behind the wheel.
That is why Mokhonoana sees her own participation as being about more than winning races.
“Maybe motorsport wasn’t part of my family’s story before me, but it can be after me. That’s what excites me, something I’m doing now could be completely normal for somebody years from now.”
Heritage does not have to mean preserving everything exactly as it was, but it can also mean taking what previous generations gave you and adding something new.
Young South Africans are doing that in technology, engineering, fashion, gaming, entrepreneurship, music and sport and for some, that space is behind the wheel of a race car.
“Our heritage is what grounds our identities,” Mokhonoana says. “But loving racing cars, engineering, or discovering new interests does not suddenly make us any less connected to our heritage or where we come from.”
The history of South African motorsport already contains people who challenged the idea of who belonged on a starting grid.
Sipuka helped break the mould while Mogotsi has built a career through a very different route into the sport. The Volkswagen development programme continues to introduce young drivers to competitive circuit racing, while the Toyota Gazoo Racing Development Academy is creating another route for the next generation.
She now wants to be part of that story.
“Culture grows when things stop feeling unusual and start becoming something people understand, support and pass on
“Motorsport can become part of Black South African culture through the drivers, the families behind them, the communities around the sport, and the kids growing up seeing racing as something that belongs to them too.”
It is not only about remembering what came before but also giving the next generation something to remember you for.
“Ten or twenty years from now, I want people to look at African motorsport and proudly say that this is part of our heritage now,” she says.
willem.vdputte@nationalmg.co.za