Twenty-Two years after becoming the first Black African to summit Mount Everest, Sibusiso Vilane has posted about his incredible climbs again…
South Africa (04 June 2025) – It’s been 20 years since Sibusiso Vilane stood on top of the world for the second time. And today, he’s not climbing Everest again, but he’s lifting us all with a reminder of why that summit still matters.
The legendary South African mountaineer, who made history in 2003 as the first Black African to summit Mount Everest, took to social media this week to honour the anniversary of his 2005 return to the mountain. That climb, through the more treacherous North Face, cemented his place as one of the most extraordinary adventurers our continent has ever known.
And while he may not have strapped on crampons this year, his climbs over the years are absolutely epic!
Sibusiso’s story reads like a movie, except every word is true and every step is paved in courage. Born in rural Mpumalanga and raised in Swaziland (now Eswatini), he grew up herding cattle, often barefoot and always dreaming. He only started school at the age of ten. He didn’t grow up with much, no big promises, no clear path, but he had a fire in his belly and an unshakable belief that something more was waiting.
And then life nudged him in a new direction.
While working as a game ranger in his early twenties, Sibusiso met John Doble, who introduced him to hiking. It was a small moment that sparked a massive shift. After training across Southern Africa and summiting Kilimanjaro in 1999, he asked himself a bold question: What if I tried Everest?
And in 2003, he did exactly that.
With ice on his lashes and South Africa in his heart, Sibusiso reached the summit of Everest on 26 May 2003. He didn’t just plant a flag, he planted a dream. A dream that spread across the continent. A dream that told millions of Africans: you belong up here too.
When he returned home, Madiba himself called to congratulate him.
“What Sibusiso has done has made us all proud,” Mandela said, “but more than that, it means that Africa is here. Africa is capable. He has set the standard for young people to follow.”
And that moment ignited something deeper. “You can’t just climb one mountain and stop,” Sibusiso said. “You have to keep going.”
So he did.
On 3 June 2005, exactly 20 years ago, Sibusiso Vilane returned to Everest. But this time, he took the North Face route: steeper, colder, more brutal. And he summited. Again.
That second climb was more than a personal challenge, it was a message. That resilience matters. That once you’ve proven to the world that something can be done, you go back and prove it again – for those still watching, still wondering, still waiting for permission to believe in themselves.
And he’s been inspiring us ever since.
Sibusiso didn’t stop at Everest. He went on to climb the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. Then he walked to both the North and South Poles. He completed the Explorers’ Grand Slam, a feat only a handful of people on Earth have achieved.
But for him, it’s never been about the accolades.
“I believe we all have our own Everest to climb,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be a mountain – it’s whatever challenges you face in life. The most important thing is to believe in yourself and keep moving forward, one step at a time.”
Every climb has raised funds and awareness for important causes, from youth education to girls’ empowerment. He’s scaled Kilimanjaro countless times with the Imbumba Foundation and the Trek4Mandela initiative, helping provide dignity and access to education for thousands of schoolgirls.
In 2023, Sibusiso returned to Everest Base Camp to mark the 20-year anniversary of his historic 2003 summit. And in 2025, he’s using this moment, the 20-year anniversary of his 2005 climb, to reflect, inspire and remind us all what matters most.
He didn’t summit again this year. But in sharing his memory of that extraordinary day in 2005, he gave South Africa something just as powerful: hope.
Hope that our best years aren’t behind us.
Hope that purpose doesn’t come with an expiry date.
Hope that even when we’re not climbing literal mountains, we can still rise.
Sibusiso’s story has always been about more than one man and one mountain. It’s about every South African who’s ever been told they’re not enough. Every person who’s been made to feel small. Every young dreamer who doesn’t know where the road leads, but keeps walking anyway.
Because every time he climbs higher, he lifts us too.
And maybe that’s the most beautiful part of all.
*We have corrected the original article. We apologise for any confusion. We were sent Sibusio’s post, and for some reason, read 2005 as 2025.
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