Ballito 400m running star wins South African Championships, turns gaze toward Olympic gold at Tokyo

Ballito resident Zakhiti Nene (23) is a future Olympian and star, ready to make his mark in the international 400m running world.

Born and raised in Ladysmith, Zakhiti loved every sport he played, showing particular aptitude in rugby and athletics while in junior school.

“I used to run in all of the athletics meets, but it was not really my focus until I was 14,” he said.

Zakhiti broke a 30-year-old 400m school record in an U14 race and it lit a spark in him, beginning full time training the next year.

“I guess I did not really choose it, it chose me in the end.”

He broke the KwaZulu-Natal record in U15 and kept pushing for faster times, eventually transferring to Glenwood High School in his matric year to seek better competition.

A junior South African title followed while studying at North West University in 2018, where he earned a BCom degree.

“My win allowed me to travel to Algeria for the African Junior Championships and I started to get a taste for international competition.”

Three years later, Zakhiti was crowned South African senior champion, winning in a time of 45.54s at a meet held in April this year.

Although world-best Wayde van Niekerk was not present given his training schedule in the USA, Zakhiti dominated a strong field which earned him inclusion in the SA 4x400m squad.

He has also since improved his personal best to 45.03s while competing at the University Sport SA Championships last weekend.

The 4x400m squad, comprising Lythe Pillay, Oscar Mavundla, Ranti Dikgale and Zakhiti recently competed in the World Relay Championships in Chorzow, Poland.

They ran a time of 3:03.79 in the semifinal, winning a place in both the final and the Tokyo Olympics, set to be held at the end of July this year.

If fit, the team will add both Van Niekerk and Derrick Mokaleng who also trains in the USA, making for a very competitive group.

Although he is a consummate professional, training 9 times a week with just one rest day, Zakhiti could not hide his excitement to compete on the world stage.

“I honestly cannot wait. Even though there will only be Japanese supporters in the stadium, I know we will be cheered on from back home.”

For now, he is focused on peaking at the right time, leaving to compete on the European circuit in June and July.

“The individual 400m qualifying time is 44.90. I am pushing myself for that so I can represent South Africa twice.”

Zakhiti is sponsored by NCS Resins, which allows him to compete internationally with little support from the South African athletics body.

He is further supported by coach Victor Vaz, an athletics veteran who has coached for over 40 years.

Though he has little spare time, Zakhiti is also an avid soccer fan and supports Arsenal FC in the English Premier League.