Sidelines queer people
at national level, Sithole represented South Africa at an international LGBTI sporting competition.
“I did very well there, getting numerous awards. The international media ran these stories on me, which was great. But when I came back to South Africa, the club I was with said they could no longer be associated with me because everyone now knew I am gay.
“They were scared of losing endorsements and said I am a threat to the club. I was treated like people were treated in the early days of the Aids epidemic: my training partners dropped me and people would not even use the same toilet I did. It was terrible. I spent the next year completely depressed.”
Itumeleng Mamabolo, a clinical psychologist in Johannesburg, says: “There is often an element of selfhatred and inner conflict with being of a different sexual orientation, because of the negative connotations society generally has around it. So, if someone is put in a position where
Phuti Lekoloane, South Africa’s first openly gay male footballer, was asked in an interview with LGBTI website MambaOnline whether he thought coming out as gay had had an adverse effect on his career. Lekoloane replied: “It does. I was recently at a team for trials. The question that was raised by the coach and the management was: ‘How are we going to deal with you, because in our community we are not used to this kind of thing? You are a very good goalkeeper but how are we going to accommodate you? And what about the image of the team?’
“That’s something that hit me — that I am going to ‘be bad’ for the image of the team. It’s very tough.”
Mato Madlala, acting chief executive of the Premier Soccer League, says: “Within the PSL, no incidents of homophobia have been reported. If there were such incidents, we would certainly have known about it.”
The Rainbow Laces campaign, initiated by the organisation Stonewall, which is based in the United Kingdom, saw supporters and members of more than 50 professional football clubs wearing rainbow-coloured laces in support of LGBT fans and players.
Virginia Magwaza, of the Other Foundation, one of the supporters of the campaign, wants to bring it to South Africa.
“It is publicly known that some sporting personalities are part of the LGBTI community, but most are not free to be who they are due to sporting codes that remain homophobic in South Africa.
“The Rainbow Laces campaign seeks to change attitudes towards LGBTI people across the world through sport. It also is meant to show that LGBTI people are part of every community but held back by prejudice and discrimination,” Magwaza says.
Commenting on whether such a campaign could enjoy the support of PSL, Madlala says: “We would need to find out more about the campaign and what it entails, because we would not like to simply pay lip service to such a serious issue. But, in principle, we would definitely support it.”
Back at the Wanderers, a week after trying for a position in the Jozi Cats, Groenewald is told he has made the team. Unable to hide his excitement, he says: “I can’t wait. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I can play a sport I love and just be me.”
Recalling how, a week earlier, Esbach had quietly supported him from the stands, he says: “You know, that day Ronald surprised me by turning up here. That wouldn’t have happened before where I was playing cricket. So, you see, this has actually brought us closer. We can support each other 100% now. We don’t have to hide who we are.”