BLACK SPORTSWOMEN NOT GETTING THE MEDIA RECOGNITION THEY DESERVE
SOUTH Africa thrives on its sports achievements – this being mostly male prowess in the sports of cricket, football and rugby. Sportswomen are celebrated, but not on the same level.
Given the massive attention accorded to sportsmen, it’s no wonder that a small percentage of South Africans are aware of the achievements of black sportswomen such as Noni Tenge, Caster Semenya and Zanele Situ.
Despite these challenges, some black sportswomen have attained world-class status, world-champion titles and Olympic and Paralympic medals.
This being an Olympic and Paralym- pic year, the sports prowess of Caster Semenya, 25, could not be ignored. Paralympian champion Zanele Situ, 45, was already a champion at the Sydney Paralympics but wasn’t given the media publicity her Paralympics triumphs earned.
Then there’s the phenomenal boxing prowess of Tenge, aged 35, who holds five world belts, a boxing feat attained by no other South African.
So why are the three not the most adored, most publicised, most sponsored athletes in South Africa?
The answers are not difficult to understand. Semenya, Situ and Tenge are black women and black women in sports don’t dominate the content of the white-owned media (which most of the media is) and don’t get sponsorship deals with corporates who think they get little returns from investing in black sportswomen. Until now, these black sportswomen have been marginalised and not celebrated as they deservingly should.
Cheryl Roberts