Maps Maponyane

Maps Maponyane is a Model, TV Presenter, Actor, Writer, Fashion Designer, MC and Entrepreneur. He was GQ’s Best Dressed Man in 2011 and was voted SA Sexiest Man in 2013 by Cosmopolitan Magazine. He’s graced billboards and magazine covers and has been the face of Joop! Homme. He is a mood-maker and a trend shaker and is one of the new brand ambassadors for Racing, It’s A Rush. He is taking the job seriously and is carving his own racing niche through events such as our Equus Awards, the Charity Mile and the recent Jockey International. Along with Dineo Moeketsi, Maps will be one of the faces of this weekend’s Sansui Summer Cup, so the Sporting Post decided to get to know him a little better. We found a cosmopolitan, complex and confident young man.

Masego ‘Maps’ Maponyane was born on the 16th of March 1990. He spent the first few years of his life in Protea North in Soweto, before moving to Naturena (South of Johannesburg). “My mother and father were high school sweethearts. They had spent their whole lives in Soweto. They were always very understanding and supportive parents, yet they were also disciplinarians. I loved playing in the dusty streets and finding entertainment and creativity in whatever my friends and I could find. We could roam the streets freely without a worry in the world. My brother Katlego and I have always been the best of friends, and we were always allowed a certain level of freedom to explore whatever our interests might have been and freedom to play was always encouraged. The only problem was that I was a handful for my folks; as soon as I began schooling I became a considerable parenting headache.”

A challenging journey

Maps describes his schooling at St John’s Prep and King Edward Prep as interesting and challenging. “I was an extremely restless boy, my teachers always battled to keep me still and non-disruptive. It was quite a tough period for me – my energy and stubbornness combined with a horrible stutter that had weighed me down like a monkey on my back from the first words that I ever uttered, made it extremely difficult to fit in. As a result I was always made fun of and we all know how mean kids can be to one other, so I acted out by pretending to be tough and rebellious which landed me in a lot of hot water. By the start of high school (St John’s College) I had overcome my speech impediment and discovered some inner confidence. I was very active, disciplined and grew a great love for school.”

Maps wanted to study in the US and even though he got a golf, athletics and academic scholarship, the costs were still exorbitant and he settled on a gap year instead. “I wanted to work as much as I could in attempts to find myself, and hopefully get to travel around Europe and buy my first car to mark a productive year of goal-setting. It all worked out to plan and I had a much clearer idea of what I wanted to do and the kind of person I was. I’ve always had an interest in people, languages, media and the arts, as well as international relations, so the following year I went into varsity at Wits and studied English, French, Media Studies and International Human Rights, which I subsequently did a quadruple major in.”

Famous father

Having a famous parent can be difficult, but Maps says “My father was always just a father, it took me a long time to realise who he actually was in the greater scheme of things. I just remember being confused why people would stop him for autographs whenever we went on an outing together, however I soon realised what this all meant. I think initially it was somewhat negative as it gave me a bit of a ‘cool kid’ complex, but he reprimanded me a number of times for that and taught me the importance of humility. He was always a generous and kind man that gave his time to complete strangers and I learnt a lot from that.” “He taught me to believe in myself. He reminded me that I will never be entitled, that people’s respect needs to be earned and that there is no such thing as impossible – those three lessons, repeated over the years by a man who had achieved so much, taught me a great deal about life.”

His mother also played an integral role. “My mother and I were very close. She always wanted one boy and one girl. My older brother came first and then she had me, but this didn’t keep her from doing a lot of things she probably would have wanted to do with her daughter. I remember how she would take me shopping with her for hours in the mall, dress up for me at home and ask me what I thought, take me along to ladies’ lunches and try to prevent me from getting hurt, which never really worked. She just really wanted a child that was the miniature version of her, and we made a really good team, however I was always just too boisterous and rough and I wanted to play, not walk around for hours or sit still. However, time with her made me realise a lot about women and from an early age I garnered a great deal of respect for woman and have always been somewhat of an old soul. My mom’s the best.”

Who is Maps?

“I am a guy who loves to find the potential within himself, I love trying new things and meeting new people, I am adventurous and unpredictable, I try to be innovative through creativity and I am quite a nerd. I am a TV presenter, actor, model, script writer, fashion designer, creative consultant, MC, voice over artist and entrepreneur. My goals are to eventually be the best father and husband while being financially comfortable enough to afford my family whatever they need, to always be able to do what I love without compromising who I am in order to achieve, and eventually to use all the skills I’ve picked up over my career and feed it back into the system for others to have future opportunities and realise their potential. I haven’t set regular goals since my gap year, I instead have a daily goal of being as productive as possible and not wasting time – I find I get a lot more done that way.”

Maps says that the driving force in his life is learning and family and friends are what he cherishes most. In terms of his challenges he says, “My vice is the futile pursuit of perfectionism, so my biggest challenges I’d say are internal ones and knowing when to stop, or understanding why something didn’t go my way after putting in a lot of effort. Other than that, learning to trust as I’ve been let down numerous times by people who I’ve worked with.”

Maps is reluctant to accept the ‘celeb’ label, but says “I think it definitely allows you to go that little bit further in your life as it can open a number of doors for you and especially doors that you would not ordinarily have opened if it wasn’t for that ‘status’. However it comes with the responsibility of being a good example and not messing it up really. Not doing anything stupid or reckless, watching what you say and knowing that there is always someone watching. Thank goodness the celeb culture here isn’t like the way it is in the US or UK because I really don’t know they do it.”

Ambassador

“I got involved with Racing, It’s A Rush after showing interest at a number of the yearly horse racing events. When they began the conversation of rebranding the sport in this country to revive it, they gave me a call to talk about a possible involvement in those efforts and the rest is history.”

How to be a racing ambassador

As a relative newcomer to racing, Maps says “My initial perceptions were that it is fascinating sport, however it isn’t particularly ‘cool’ amongst my group of friends, unless it’s the J&B Met or the Durban July. I thought that there were only about ten race days a year or so and that it was more suited to the older white male. My perceptions have completely changed since immersing myself into the culture and fraternity. I now realise that it is a sport that has been misrepresented somewhat and that it is intact for everyone. If more of my peers spent a day at the races and were a bit more educated on how it all works, then they would be far more interested and that it’s actually very cool. There are great networking opportunities, awesome entertainment and once you know a bit more about the horses and jockeys, as well how the betting works, then it’s an absolute thrill.”

“My role as a Racing, It’s A Rush influencer requires me to raise awareness about the sport and show that there is so much more to it than the general public – especially my peers – may think, and that it isn’t a dying elitist sport. It is in fact a sport that is still full of life and one that can be enjoyed by everyone and really should. There’s so much entertainment, it’s a wonderful day out, you get to meet lots of people. It really is the ultimate day out, especially on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon with friends.”

“I feel I fit the brand in representing the untapped market that they are hoping to attract. I’m young, ambitious, I have a genuine interest in the sport and I think I know a number of peers who I could influence to follow suit in the form of taking up the sport and perhaps find an interest in one day becoming owners themselves. All in all, I think I bring a different perspective and energy to the table.”

Brand make-over

In terms of the new direction racing is taking, Maps says “I think racing stacks up well now, especially with the Racing, It’s A Rush rebranding of the sport. I’ve found that the youth will always follow evolving trends and keep up with the times. Even if there is a retro feel, there needs to be a trendy element to it, and it’s all in the detail. There is so much to do when you’re there, and now, as seen recently at Turffontein for the Charity Mile, there’s a market element to further entice the racegoer. The rebranding comes at a perfect time when they have clearly paid attention to detail in working on what the youth may want. This includes an eye catching logo that is modern, yet will maintain a classic feel, there’s a lot that goes into it and it tells a great story. Once there is enough awareness out there, the races will be full of aspirant, vibrant, and affluent youth of all demographics.”