In this respect, there has been   some rather heated discussion about just who is down to carry the South African flag at the opening of the London Games six days from now.

Without revisiting the sordid saga of the questions raised over her true sexuality – a division of opinion which all but split the world of athletics asunder – middle-distance star Caster Semenya has been given this honour
Semenya shot to prominence by winning gold in the 800m in the 2009 Berlin World Championships.

What followed was a personal disaster for the young woman from the humble village of Ga-Masehlong outside Polokwane.

But through it all – the incompetent dithering by athletics authorities both here and abroad and the slings and arrows she resolutely faced – the young woman prevailed and came back to win a silver medal at last year’s World Championship in the South Korean City of Daegu.

Oscar Pistorius, the courageous double amputee who will contest the 400m and is a member of the South African 4x400 relay squad, has been mooted as another who might have carried the flag.

Like Semenya, he has had to fight officialdom for the right to compete.

There are  those who have raised Khotso Mokoena’s name as more than worthy of leading out this country before a watching world as our only medallist – a long jump silver – in Beijing four years ago.

But we must all remember that despite  the divided opinion on who  leads Team South Africa into London’s Olympic stadium under our national colours, there remains a concept every South African should surely subscribe to.

It is quite simply this: The flag itself must always remain more important than the person carrying it.