2026-06 – A dedication to well being and efficiency

8 June 2026 – Wits University

A sport physiotherapist, life-style coach, and passionate well being advocate – Dr Siya Kunene talks about his background and his upcoming fifth Comrades Marathon.

Wits is dedicated to selling well being and wellbeing throughout its neighborhood and past. This dedication is mirrored in amenities such because the not too long ago launched Wits Brian and Dorothy Zylstra Sports Complex, a world-class facility designed to advance sport, well being and train drugs.

As a part of showcasing Wits workers who champion wholesome residing, we profile Dr Siyabonga Kunene, Senior Lecturer within the Department of Physiotherapy, whose dedication to well being, efficiency and function extends far past the classroom. Wits Communications sat down with him to be taught extra about his journey from rural KwaZulu-Natal to academia, his ardour for physiotherapy, and the teachings he has discovered by way of endurance sport, management and repair.

Can you inform us about your background?

I used to be born in Driefontein, a rural village in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. My upbringing was easy however deeply formative. Like many kids in my neighborhood, I grew up strolling barefoot, herding livestock, and serving to with family tasks from a younger age. Life required resilience, we walked lengthy distances to high school, typically in under-resourced environments, however these experiences constructed character and self-discipline.

My mother and father, regardless of restricted formal schooling, instilled robust values in me – religion, respect, onerous work, and perseverance. Education and religion grew to become my lifelines. Even once I needed to delay beginning college and steadiness research with tasks like taking care of livestock, I remained dedicated. Those early classes formed who I’m as we speak.

How does a rural boy find yourself being a sport and train physiotherapist?

Growing up, I didn’t even know what physiotherapy was. But by way of onerous work at college, I earned a bursary to review physiotherapy at MEDUNSA (now Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University). That alternative modified my life.

From there, my ardour for sport, well being, and serving to others grew. Over time, I specialised in sports activities and train physiotherapy, combining medical work, educational growth, and my private love for wholesome residing, which embrace being concerned bodily exercise.

Today, I see my journey not simply as a profession path, however as a calling to serve, uplift, and enhance the lives of athletes and communities, particularly these from underserved backgrounds.

What do you consider is the way forward for physiotherapy and would you encourage youth to pursue a profession on this subject?

I consider the way forward for physiotherapy is extremely thrilling and evolving. It is transferring past conventional rehabilitation into areas similar to:

• Prevention and life-style drugs
• Performance optimisation
• Holistic well being (bodily, psychological, and even religious wellbeing)
• Community-based care, particularly in underserved areas

Physiotherapy is more and more changing into about serving to folks dwell higher, not simply recuperate from harm.

I might completely encourage younger folks to pursue this subject. It is a significant, impactful profession that lets you mix science, motion, and human connection. If you might be obsessed with serving to others and focused on well being and efficiency, physiotherapy gives large alternatives.

You are working your fifth Comrades Marathon, which was the toughest thus far and what did you’re taking away from it?

Each Comrades Marathon is exclusive, however the hardest ones are often these the place all the pieces doesn’t go in response to plan – whether or not resulting from coaching that didn’t go proper, difficult situations, bodily fatigue, or psychological pressure. Those are the races that actually check your character.

What Comrades has taught me is that endurance is not only bodily; it’s deeply psychological and, for me, additionally religious. It requires self-discipline, persistence, and consistency over time. These will not be qualities you develop in a single day, they’re constructed by way of preparation and life expertise.

Having accomplished 4 Comrades Marathons thus far, with my greatest time of 8:58 in 2025, I’ve discovered priceless classes about resilience, preparation, and trusting the method, particularly when issues get troublesome.

I’m additionally a highway bike owner, and I discover that combining working and biking brings each steadiness and selection to my coaching. While each sports activities share related challenges and advantages, alternating between them helps me keep away from monotony and retains me mentally engaged and motivated. That sense of selection performs an essential function in sustaining long-term efficiency and pleasure.

Can you share what is your post-comrades run routine?

My post-Comrades routine focuses on restoration and restoration. This contains:

• Active restoration (mild motion and mobility work)
• Proper hydration and vitamin
• Rest and sleep
• Gradual return to structured coaching (after 3 – 4 weeks of restoration interval)

Recovery is simply as essential as preparation. As I typically emphasise in my work, the physique wants time to restore and adapt after such an excessive endurance occasion.

For me, the two^nd assist of the 12 months (submit Comrades), I flip to deal with biking occasions greater than working. I often put together for biking occasions like Ride Joburg, a 97km race in November.

You have accomplished a PGDip in Business Administration, what prompted this and the way has it benefited you?

After acquiring my PhD in 2020, I persuade a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration to broaden my perspective past medical and educational work. As healthcare professionals, we frequently deal with affected person care, however management, administration, and strategic considering are equally essential, particularly while you wish to affect techniques and create sustainable affect.

This qualification has helped me suppose extra strategically about programme growth, analysis affect, enterprise growth and administration and even initiatives like my podcast (Move & Thrive Podcast). It has strengthened my capacity to steer, handle initiatives, and contribute meaningfully past the medical area.

Who is Dr Siya Kunene exterior of Wits?

Outside of academia, I lead a really purpose-driven and balanced life.

I’m a husband and father, and household is central to all the pieces I do. I’m additionally deeply rooted in my religion and actively function a frontrunner (elder) within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

I’m obsessed with endurance sports activities, I run, cycle, and not too long ago began swimming as I put together for triathlon occasion (I’m planning on doing my first in 2028). Beyond private participation, I additionally work as a life-style and sports activities coach, serving to others enhance their well being and efficiency.

Additionally, I host the Move and Thrive Podcast, the place I share insights on well being, efficiency, harm prevention, and holistic wellbeing. It’s a platform for empowering folks to dwell more healthy, extra balanced lives.

Your closing phrases?

My journey is a testomony to the facility of religion, resilience, and schooling. From herding livestock in a rural village to engaged on world sporting phases, I’ve seen how function and self-discipline can remodel lives.

My mission is easy: to serve God and humanity by way of educating, therapeutic, analysis, and energetic engagement. I hope my story conjures up others to consider that the place you begin doesn’t decide the place you may go. With dedication, values, and onerous work, something is feasible.

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