The Muddy Face Botswana

In March this year, 13-year-old Sophie-Mae – the one you see so often supporting all the yellow bobble heads in the pits – stepped so far outside her comfort zone it took her to another country.


Backed by the ever Rad-Dad, Soph jumped into a CF Moto SxS and attempted to drive over 700km through the Botswana bush, as part of Ross Branch’s Muddy Face rally series. The goal was seriously ambitious – she’d never driven, well, anything before – and she set out not only to drive the entirety of the trip, but also to raise R70,000 for Team Zonke while doing it.


Soph has been involved in outreach since she was a tiny tot, and has accompanied me to various townships from the time she could barely walk – something that raised questions about my parenting but remains a decision I stand by. She’s a deeply compassionate person who cares about all those around her and is invested in creating a more beautiful world; whether immersing her in these spaces created that, or whether this is merely who she is, isn’t really the point of this post.

Unsurprisingly, Sophie smashed it out of the park in March – raising an insane R103,000 for Team Zonke, backed by so many of our wonderful supporters and a huge number of people in our communities.
Soph was on a high. She wanted desperately to do it again, and so when the opportunity to partake in the Muddy Face rally in August came up, she jumped at it. This time, however, she wanted to take the team along with her.
The story of our ever-ongoing fight about documentation remains, and I’ll not go down the devastating rabbit hole that is the reason we weren’t able to take everyone with us. However, after conceding that certain passports were just not going to happen, only four team members were able to come along – J99, C264 and C342.

And so off we set, the six of us, into Botswana to take part in the event.

For some of the team, this was a first trip out of the country. This made it doubly exciting. But this sweet group of team members wanted desperately to raise R100,000 for their teammates back home. Unfortunately, for this event, we just couldn’t garner up the support and only secured 28% of the target.
The youngest team member, at just 7 years old, rode his 50cc motorbike through some insane terrain. The two ‘big’ boys (aged 12 & 15) rode the entirety of the 700-odd kilometres. And Sophie… well, the kid drove her heart out and managed to gain incredible confidence amongst adult men, all in their multi-million-rand machines.

We ended on a bit of a challenging note – with all the boys being acknowledged and Sophie being pointedly excluded from the prizegiving. Despite being the ONLY female driver in the SxS class. And despite being THE ONLY junior driver in the SxS class. But we believe deeply that these lessons are not lost – that in fact the point of these events is more for the learning. We recite and repeat “how you race is more important than where you place” ad nauseum, and despite there being some utterly heartbreaking tears (off the back of the fact that she felt totally excluded from the prizegiving AND ‘failed’ at her fundraising target), we learnt so much. We spent a lot of time discussing the fact that NOBODY can steal our joy – and whether our impact is validated by others or not is insignificant when it comes to our ownership of the experience. At 14, she needs no validation that she is exceptional for self-navigating (in totality) nearly 700km of bush, and completing a rally of this magnitude – where many competitors weren’t even able to finish.

It was not all lost. Perhaps not the experience we’d hoped for, but we learn so very much in these moments when things don’t go to plan. The fundraiser is still open – if you want to help a little girl feel a little more like she made an impact, please feel free to drop in a donation or two (or R72,534 to get her to target). www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/rideforareason

Sidebar: I think it’s important to always disclose finances when discussing events such as this. We are eternally lucky to have some of the very best humans behind us – undoubtedly the leader of the pack is the man I am so lucky to call my partner for the past 23 years. Fundraising for all aspects of Team Zonke is incredibly challenging – for so many, the idea of ‘broken’ children being exposed to ‘luxury’ experiences is a lot to process, and for others the risk element of the sport is a challenge to get around. In any event, we were so lucky to have this entire trip sponsored by ‘Rad-Dad’ – travel, accommodation, entry fees and all logistics. This remains something we are indefinitely grateful for, and a privilege we will never take for granted.

In March this year, 13-year-old Sophie-Mae – the one you see so often supporting all the yellow bobble heads in the pits – stepped so far outside her comfort zone it took her to another country.


Backed by the ever Rad-Dad, Soph jumped into a CF Moto SxS and attempted to drive over 700km through the Botswana bush, as part of Ross Branch’s Muddy Face rally series. The goal was seriously ambitious – she’d never driven, well, anything before – and she set out not only to drive the entirety of the trip, but also to raise R70,000 for Team Zonke while doing it.


Soph has been involved in outreach since she was a tiny tot, and has accompanied me to various townships from the time she could barely walk – something that raised questions about my parenting but remains a decision I stand by. She’s a deeply compassionate person who cares about all those around her and is invested in creating a more beautiful world; whether immersing her in these spaces created that, or whether this is merely who she is, isn’t really the point of this post.

Unsurprisingly, Sophie smashed it out of the park in March – raising an insane R103,000 for Team Zonke, backed by so many of our wonderful supporters and a huge number of people in our communities.
Soph was on a high. She wanted desperately to do it again, and so when the opportunity to partake in the Muddy Face rally in August came up, she jumped at it. This time, however, she wanted to take the team along with her.
The story of our ever-ongoing fight about documentation remains, and I’ll not go down the devastating rabbit hole that is the reason we weren’t able to take everyone with us. However, after conceding that certain passports were just not going to happen, only four team members were able to come along – J99, C264 and C342.

And so off we set, the six of us, into Botswana to take part in the event.

For some of the team, this was a first trip out of the country. This made it doubly exciting. But this sweet group of team members wanted desperately to raise R100,000 for their teammates back home. Unfortunately, for this event, we just couldn’t garner up the support and only secured 28% of the target.
The youngest team member, at just 7 years old, rode his 50cc motorbike through some insane terrain. The two ‘big’ boys (aged 12 & 15) rode the entirety of the 700-odd kilometres. And Sophie… well, the kid drove her heart out and managed to gain incredible confidence amongst adult men, all in their multi-million-rand machines.

We ended on a bit of a challenging note – with all the boys being acknowledged and Sophie being pointedly excluded from the prizegiving. Despite being the ONLY female driver in the SxS class. And despite being THE ONLY junior driver in the SxS class. But we believe deeply that these lessons are not lost – that in fact the point of these events is more for the learning. We recite and repeat “how you race is more important than where you place” ad nauseum, and despite there being some utterly heartbreaking tears (off the back of the fact that she felt totally excluded from the prizegiving AND ‘failed’ at her fundraising target), we learnt so much. We spent a lot of time discussing the fact that NOBODY can steal our joy – and whether our impact is validated by others or not is insignificant when it comes to our ownership of the experience. At 14, she needs no validation that she is exceptional for self-navigating (in totality) nearly 700km of bush, and completing a rally of this magnitude – where many competitors weren’t even able to finish.

It was not all lost. Perhaps not the experience we’d hoped for, but we learn so very much in these moments when things don’t go to plan. The fundraiser is still open – if you want to help a little girl feel a little more like she made an impact, please feel free to drop in a donation or two (or R72,534 to get her to target). www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/rideforareason

Sidebar: I think it’s important to always disclose finances when discussing events such as this. We are eternally lucky to have some of the very best humans behind us – undoubtedly the leader of the pack is the man I am so lucky to call my partner for the past 23 years. Fundraising for all aspects of Team Zonke is incredibly challenging – for so many, the idea of ‘broken’ children being exposed to ‘luxury’ experiences is a lot to process, and for others the risk element of the sport is a challenge to get around. In any event, we were so lucky to have this entire trip sponsored by ‘Rad-Dad’ – travel, accommodation, entry fees and all logistics. This remains something we are indefinitely grateful for, and a privilege we will never take for granted.

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