GQ South Africa — May 2017

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN POLKEY

10 GQ.CO.ZA MAY 2017

CONTRIBUTORS

Justin Polkey

Photographer

Page 58-

Grant Shub

Writer

Page 58-

Jake Millar

Writer

Page 80-

Ryan

Koopmans

Photographer

Page 80-

South Africa

post-1994 was

an inspiring

and fertile

environment in

which Polkey

found his feet as

a photographer.

He now travels

the globe (with

the odd stint

back in Cape

Town) shooting

portraits and

fashion spreads,

like this one on

Faf du Plessis.

Shub is a sports

enthusiast, with

rugby his fi rst

love. He hung

up his boots

when the

props began

resembling Os

du Randt, and

took up writing

instead. He

pinned down

a toned Faf du

Plessis for an

exclusive

interview.

Millar is GQ

Australia’s

features editor,

covering

everything from

pop culture to

fashion, travel

and long-form

features. He is

the author of

The Modern

Man Guide,

a cheeky style

handbook. He

writes about

the strange city

of Astana.

An artist

specialising in

photography,

Koopmans’s

work

explores our

relationship

with the built

environment,

especially in

megacities like

Kazakhstan’s

weird capital.

AGOOD

MAN IN

ACRISIS

I

t’s good to know there are

decent leaders out there

doing positive things for the

country. I am sure he won’t

take the credit for it, but South

African cricket captain Faf du

Plessis has single-mindedly

turned the Proteas’ fortunes

around. His leadership abilities

are in direct contrast to those

of the confederacy of dunces

who take this country from one

SNAFU to the next. Du Plessis,

who only became Test captain

by default when SA’s star

player AB de Villiers pulled

out, has a straightforward

approach. ‘My policy will

always be one of being honest.

I value the team above myself.

I’m not as good as AB so

I have to rely on other qualities

• I try to challenge
  the team as much as
  I can, it’s my biggest
  strength.’ Compare
  that to the dead-end
  tactics of the
  wrecking ball-in-chief
  and his clique,
  interested only in
  enriching themselves.
  Faf’s modern
  leadership style
  has given sports fans
  hope at a dismal
  time, and his leading
  by example has
  made him SA’s most
  consistent batsman
  since Jacques
  Kallis. That’s some
  achievement for a
  man who has to rely
  on ‘other qualities’.
  Pure class is one
  of those attributes.
  It applies to his own
  style as well.

Craig Tyson

Editor

S

ituation Normal All Fucked Up. h at’s a SNAFU for those who

don’t know. It’s a military term dating back to World War II,

as apt today as it was then. It applies to television, an industry

hanging in there thanks to live sports and the Trump horrorshow.

h at too will change. It’s not so good for entertainment, there’s Apple

or Netl ix or any other streaming device for that. TV could do us all

a favour and reboot to a blank screen and an app – so we can stream

what we like whenever we want. h e stars and the series is on p68.

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Fa f d u P l e s s i s , p 5 8