Afrika debuted for the South African sevens team during the Dubai leg of the
2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series. During the Las Vegas leg of the
2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series he was carried off the field on a stretcher after he was injured during the Plate Final match against Fiji, South Africa won 12–7. He was part of the sevens team that took Bronze at the
2010 Commonwealth Games held in
Delhi, India in October. Afrika missed out on the
2011 Wellington Sevens because of a broken jaw he suffered during the
South African leg of the
IRB Sevens Series. He was the top try and point-scorer for the
2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series; He scored 40 tries throughout the series with a total of 385 points. In 2011 he won the IRB International Sevens Player of the Year award, pipping the great
Tomasi Cama of New Zealand (NZ) who managed 299 points for the same year. In 2013, Afrika was included in the squad for the
2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
2010 Commonwealth Games - Delhi Afrika was instrumental in the team that represented
South Africa Seven in Delhi. Helping the team to a third place finish overall. These are the games that highlighted the prowess of Africa on the main stage of rugby Sevens. From hereon, he was to join the main team for the world series.
2014 Commonwealth Games - Glasgow Cecil was named in this most illustrious team to represent South Africa in their campaign to unseat New Zealand who had never lost a game at all Commonwealth Games since the inception of Sevens at the games in 1998.
Rugby sevens at the 2014 Commonwealth Games was one of South Africa Sevens best tournaments where they ended up as champions winning GOLD.
2016 Summer Olympics Afrika was included in a 12-man squad for the
2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He was named in the starting line-up for their first match in Pool B of the competition against
Spain and scored two tries and two conversions to help South Africa to a 24–0 victory. He started their second match against
France, converting three of South Africa's tries in a 26–0 victory, and dropped to the bench for their final match against
Australia. Despite a 5–12 defeat in this match, South Africa still finished top of
Pool B to set up a quarter final rematch against Australia. Afrika was restored to the starting line-up for this match and converted one of South Africa's tries in a 22–5 victory. He started South Africa's semi-final match against
Great Britain but could not prevent them losing 5–7 to be eliminated from gold medal contention. He also started their
third-place play-off, scoring two tries and kicking five conversions in his side's 54–14 victory over
Japan to help South Africa secure a bronze medal in the competition.
Honours • Springboks Blitzbok colours from 2009 with 345 match appearances for South Africa • Leading Record Points for South Africa as at 2023/10/10 with 1465 points • 2010/2011 IRB International Sevens Player of the Year • 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi - Bronze Medal winner • 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - Gold Medal winner • 2016 Rio Olympics Summer Games - Bronze Medal winner
Retirement Afrika retired from international sevens as South Africa's all time leading World Series scorer in June 2020. Following on his long Sevens career and on his success in the 2011 HSBC Sevens World Series, he was in 2021 unveiled as the new International Rugby Board ‘Keep Rugby Clean’ Ambassador for sevens. == Club Rugby ==