There are always plenty of speeches and grandiose gesture-making when triumphant sportspeople return from global exploits that bring this country glory.
Such was the case as 2024 Paris Olympics silver and gold swimming medallist Tatjana Smith and two of the men's 4x100m relay silver team, Bayanda Walaza and Bradley Nkoana, touched down at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday.
Sports minister Gayton McKenzie, like his predecessors, made promises of financial remuneration for all the Paris medallists, though he did not go into detail. He promised to pay the full expenses of the parents of javelin silver medallist Jo-Ane van Dyk.
Her parents supported the athlete in the build-up to the Olympics as hers was one of three South African medals not funded through the operation excellence (OpEx) programme run by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.
Financial rewards from the government for athletes and sports teams generally do not stir controversy so much as they do excitement from the public.
Often they are presented as rewards for hard and unforgiving work to members of teams such as Banyana Banyana and the women's Proteas and participants from the “minor” sports outside South Africa's financially wealthy big three — football, rugby and cricket — who have made less money from their sports than they deserved.
Still, there should also be some questions about treating the symptoms and not the cause. Too many ministers have been behind such donations but have done less during their tenures to address the issue of proper support to athletes, and how it can be improved.
Another glaring issue that has not been addressed at government level over the 30 years of democracy, which goes hand in hand with the topic of support, is that with its resources, South Africa could and should be able to produce more medal-winners at the Olympics.
It's hard to say, but one suspects most of the athletes and sports people who have been presented one-off financial rewards for performance, if asked whether they would rather that such a donation go to facilities, would find it a tough question to answer.
Most have put in years and hours of gruelling work for their achievements without anywhere near enough financial reward, so when one comes, it would surely be hard to turn down. Some might, others might not, and it would be wrong to begrudge the latter, even if this is a hypothetical scenario.
That, perhaps, is the issue. So many of the participants in sports outside the big three still have to sacrifice more than they should. South Africa is not a rich country. There are more pressing issues to address than supporting athletes financially. The eyeballs that go with the popularity of the major sports guarantee that's where most of the money from sponsors goes. Those are the realities.
But without doubt, not enough has been done in ideas, brainstorming, sustained effort, planning or bringing together corporate and state role players to ensure participants in the less attractive sports get far better support than they have until now.
Let us hope McKenzie, President Cyril Ramaphosa and this new government of national unity comes to some kind of realisation on that matter. It’s the least the spectacularly hard-working, self-sacrificing athletes and sports people who bring South Africans such joy and pride deserve.
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