After being run over by two cars, SA’s first black paddler gets to world champs
Ten years ago, a 15-year-old black boy from Khayelitsha, Cape Town, stood on the shores of Monwabisi beach, reluctant to learn how to surf. Now 25, Sinda Thakathani is taking to the water in Hungary at the International Canoe Federation Stand Up Paddling World Championships, which started on 9 September.
“To be quite honest, if it wasn’t for my friends pressuring me to stay, I would’ve left and never bothered to learn. I was terrified of the ocean and you know in the townships, we always think, ‘What if there’s a shark in there?’,” said Thakathani.
Waves For Change, which introduces surfing to underprivileged children, had come to Khayelitsha to speak to school children about turning away from violence and drugs.
At the time, Thakathani, like his peers, was “hanging around at the corner” and fighting, “because there was nothing else to do”.
Apish Tshetsha from Waves For Change told DM168 that seeing Thakathani compete in an international competition was “a huge inspiration” for any young person from the township.
“You know how difficult it is for township kids – there’s lots of drugs and violence, but Thakathani showed a passion for the ocean from the get-go. He’s been committed to the sport and I feel so proud of him,” he said.
Thinking back to the early days of learning how to surf, Thakathani said it took him about a week to get the hang of standing while on the board.
“That feeling is absolutely amazing; it’s something else. And I thought, ‘You know what? I love this and I’m going to stick with it.’ Ever since then I’ve been surfing.”
After finishing high school, Thakathani did lifeguard courses with Lifesaving South Africa and qualified as a lifeguard in 2016.
In 2017, he started working at a surf shop in Muizenberg, where he spent most of his time teaching people how to surf, rather than surfing.
So in 2019, he decided to enter more competitions. That year, he was ranked third in the country by Stand-Up Paddling South Africa (Supsa).
The following year, Covid-19 upended everything.
“I lost interest in training because there weren’t any competitions to look forward to. I told myself if there are competitions in 2021, then I’ll start training,” he said.
Then, three months into 2021, Thakathani was hit by two cars in Khayelitsha.
“There isn’t enough space for pedestrians to walk because vendors take up space on the pavements and some houses are built quite close to the road…
“I didn’t see the car. When I looked back, it hit me. I flew up in the air, and landed on the road. I fell on my right side. I saw the other car coming. The second car drove over me and stopped on top of me. Then I passed out,” said Thakathani.
“The doctors said that the only reason I woke up was because the oil tank was right on top of me and, as a result, I got a huge burn on my back… They had to lift the car up and pull me out. After that, I remember waking up in the hospital.”
Thakathani also had a broken wrist. The accident has left him with “a huge scar” on his back and scars on the left side of his face.
A few weeks after the accident, however, he was back on his board, training for the Freedom Paddle, which happens every year on 27 April, South Africa’s Freedom Day.
Thakathani came third in the competition. “It wasn’t first place, but I was so stoked at coming in third place.”
From there he made it to South Africa’s national stand-up paddling team, which saw him heading off to Hungary.
Getting to Hungary has resulted in Thakathani overcoming many obstacles. When taxi violence disrupted his ability to get to Muizenberg, where he still works and trains, Thakathani had to stay with a friend in Simon’s Town.
“I have the kind of challenges that many stand-up paddlers don’t have. They have easy access to the beaches; they’ve had access their whole lives. They’re able to afford all the top-gear equipment and they do it full-time,” said Thakathani.
In the months leading up to the championship, he was training twice a day during the week: “I surf and do my stand-up paddling in the morning, then I either jog or go to the gym when I get home… It’s not easy.”
Craig Wilson, a digital marketer, has been helping Thakathani with his social media presence.
“I said to him, ‘If you want to take [standup paddling] professionally, you’re going to have to clean up your social media,’” said Wilson, who took pictures of Thakathani catching waves and teaching people how to surf. “I’ve watched him train for the World Championships and he’s worked really hard.”
Thakathani said he was both excited and nervous about the World Championships and is the first black person to represent Supsa.
“Being the first black person to do anything is nerve-wracking. Everyone you’re competing with is thinking, ‘Damn, then this guy must be good’, but they don’t know that I work full-time; I’m not a full-time stand-up paddler [like they are],” he said.
Caroline Gill, Supsa’s secretary, said Thakathani was the only black male standup paddler known to Supsa who was “sufficiently trained to be able to compete internationally”.
“Due to the massive costs involved in international competition, we have only ever had a handful of paddlers who managed to self-fund or raise their own sponsorships to be able to travel and compete in the international arena,” said Gill.
Thakathani raised R32,850 to go to Hungary. Gill said: “There is no money available to us from the Department of Sport [Arts and Culture] for international competitions.”
DSAC spokesperson Masechaba Khumalo did not respond to DM168’s questions.