He was one of the few runners to compete at both the 2011 African Cross Country Championships and the World Championships events, placing sixth at the continental level (second in the team rankings with South Africa) and fifteenth on the global stage. A month later he won the 10,000 m South African title in a personal best, was runner-up at the Yangzhou Half Marathon, then had his first sub-28-minute clocking to win the 10,000 m national universities title with a run of 27:56.18 min. He won the silver medal in the 10,000 m at the 2011 Summer Universiade behind Suguru Osako and went on to make his world debut in the event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, where he came thirteenth. He ended the year with his second marathon outing at the Shanghai Marathon and was runner-up to Willy Kibor Koitile.