The flamboyant Proteas spinner who was a diamond sorter at De Beers and became a top real estate agent in KwaZulu-Natal

South Africa • 12 November 2026 • Shaun Jacobs

One of South Africa’s best-known cricketers, Pat Symcox, has become a top real estate agent on KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast.

Symcox is the owner, broker, and principal of RE/MAX Coast and Country, which operates in Port Shepstone, Scottburgh, Shelly Beach, and Southbroom.

The famous off-spinner moved into the real estate business after he retired as a cricket commentator on SuperSport in 2006.

Since then, he has steadily become one of KZN’s most prominent real estate agents and an active member of economic lobby groups in the province.

Symcox’s career has almost gone full circle as he was a manager of private hospitals at Medicor before becoming a professional cricketer.

The future Protea was born in Kimberley in 1960 to a middle-class family that has a rich cricketing history, as his father, Rodger, played provincial cricket for Griqualand West.

To this day, the Symcox family is only one of ten families to produce three generations of first-class cricketers, from Rodger through Pat to Russell Symcox.

Symcox finished his schooling career at Kimberley Boys’ High School and had little ambition to play cricket professionally as South Africa was isolated from international sport at the time.

This pushed him to live an ordinary life. Symcox completed his military service before entering the local workforce as a diamond sorter for De Beers.

During his working career, Symcox regularly played cricket at a high level in the Griqualand West provincial setup.

Symcox ultimately settled in at Medicor Hospital Group, where he managed a private hospital and was appointed as the group’s credit manager after a stint as a municipal accountant.

While working at Medicor, Symcox also completed a sport psychology degree at the University of Pietermaritzburg.

At this stage, Symcox was an opening batsman, but after moving to Natal, he transitioned into a tall, right-arm off-break bowler.

This is where he gained prominence as a skilful player who compensated for any shortcomings with his competitive spirit and grit.

When South Africa was readmitted to international cricket, Symcox made his debut for the Proteas at 33 years old.

Playing under Kepler Wessels and Hansie Cronje, Symcox appeared in 20 Test matches and 80 ODIs. He took 37 wickets in Test matches and 72 in one-dayers, respectively.

However, his finest hour came with the bat when he walked out at number 10 with South Africa 166 for 8 against Pakistan.

Symcox smashed 108 runs in a 195-run partnership with Mark Boucher – the highest 9th wicket partnership in history.

From turning wickets to flipping houses

Symcox was a fiery character, and his persona provoked crowds whenever the Proteas played. Famously, an Australian fan lobbed a whole roast chicken at him during a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

This attitude endeared him to South African fans, with SuperSport signing him up as a commentator after his retirement in 1999.

Symcox travelled the world with SuperSport until he left cricket for good in 2006 and turned his focus to real estate on KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast.

Leveraging his experience of team environments, Symcox has built a substantial property footprint over the past two decades.

Symcox launched RE/MAX Coast and Country in 2007, and he still serves as the main broker, owner, and principal director of the company.

The business operates six franchises across the province, with its primary focus being on the KZN South Coast. More recently, it has expanded inland by acquiring the Pinetown franchise.

RE/MAX Coast and Country has 60 real estate agents in KZN, with its portfolio ranging across residential property sales, commercial real estate, and long-term rentals.

Symcox attributes some of his property success to his cricketing career.

“The cricket scene allowed me to understand the dynamics of a team. I understand very quickly where you fit in because I’ve seen that over many years,” he told Business Sense.

“If you can’t fit into this team, you’ve unfortunately got to go. And I’m big on that. Nobody’s better than my team, including me. I live and die by that. I make that very clear.”

Symcox is also active in civil society, being the regional chairman for the KZN Growth Coalition, which focuses on infrastructure investment and economic development in the province.

He is also the chairman of the South Coast Tourism Committee.