• Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena gave an emotive 10-minute-long response to the question of what role football should play in the country’s attempts to tackle gender-based violence (GBV).
• This comes after Thembinkosi Lorch’s conviction for assaulting his former romantic partner.
• Mokwena believes that if the same focus that’s given to improving players on the field were placed on developing them to be good human beings, that would be half the battle won in addressing the scourge of GBV.
• For more news, go to the News24 Sport front page. 

For South African football to make a meaningful contribution in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV), Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena believes that those involved in the game should focus more on developing good human beings instead of prioritising only producing good footballers. 

The beautiful game’s role in the fight against GBV was thrust into the spotlight when Orlando Pirates forward Thembinkosi Lorch was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and sentenced to three years imprisonment.

But that imprisonment was wholly suspended for five years, with Lorch ordered to pay a fine of R100 000 to People Opposing Women Abuse, a women’s rights organisation. Pirates suspended Lorch until 12 December, having previously conducted their own internal investigation that found him guilty of misconduct.

He was also ordered to pay a monetary fine by the club when he was found guilty of assault in June and underwent anger management therapy. 

While Lorch was being sentenced, TS Galaxy striker Thamsanqa Gabuza made his first appearance at the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, on charges of attempted rape and malicious damage to property. He was granted R3 000 bail.

Police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi told the Sowetan newspaper that Gabuza had handed himself to the police on Tuesday.

In 2021, Sundowns’ Mothobi Mvala was accused of domestic abuse by his then fianceé, Palesa Botipe, who later dropped the charges early last year. Botipe told Soccer Laduma that she decided to withdraw the charges because Mvala admitted that he has a short temper and bad communication skills, and they were both seeking professional help while their daughter was seeing a child psychologist. 

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Mokwena knows these three players well. He worked with Lorch and Gabuza at Pirates, while Mvala is an integral player at Sundowns. The 36-year-old coach gave an emotive 10-minute-long response with these cases in mind when asked what meaningful role football should play in the fight against GBV, going beyond superlatives and fancy campaigns to offer tangible solutions. 

“The law in South Africa says that one is innocent until proven guilty, but we also have to understand the severity of the accusations [of the two cases that haven’t gone through the legal processes], particularly because of the times that we live in and how vulnerable our women and our children are,” said Mokwena. 

“In a society that gives a lot of vulnerability, over and above the social ills that we are facing, it is very important that, not only from a football perspective but from a human perspective, we drive the notion and the importance of being good human beings. 

“This is the thing that we talk about a lot in our club, with the players and the group – that it is important to not only be a good footballer, but also be a good human being because you are only a footballer for two or three hours a day and then, for the rest of the other hours, you are integrated into society.”

Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed that, between July and September this year, 14 401 cases of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm were reported, while there were 1 514 incidents of attempted murder and 10 516 cases of rape.

These statistics give a glimpse into the real problem, with crime experts having consistently said that some women don’t report cases of assault and rape due to the low conviction rate and the justice system’s failure to offer them justice. 

There have been several allegations of domestic abuse that have been levelled against footballers in recent years. Their profile heightens the interest and public scrutiny around these cases.  

“I saw a clip of [Gregg] Popovich, the basketball coach [for San Antonio Spurs], where he takes the mic and tells supporters on the basketball court: ‘Hey, stop booing the players. This is not what our club is about.’

“But we are in that time where, when you play professional sport, unlike many other industries, your performance is heightened and magnified because it is in the public arena,” said Mokwena. 

“I may be a lawyer, a bank teller or a cashier, but how I perform is not put out for the public to judge. Because it is put out for the public to judge [sportspeople], we then think that our judgement has to extend beyond what happens on the pitch. And we forget that these football players are also human beings who go through life and the challenges of life like many other human beings. 

“It becomes very difficult for me to give an answer that this is right and this is wrong. We all know that, from a moral conduct perspective, GBV is wrong and should never be accepted. I don’t talk as a Sundowns coach but as a South African citizen who happens to be part of a community that faces so many challenges.

While a lot is written about the work Sundowns have done in improving players, Mokwena also wants that to be extended to ensuring that the type of human beings they are is on par with, or even better than, the footballers that they are. 

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“As a man who was raised by a grandmother who was a single parent, a mother who was a single parent, I can tell you that, for me, I have zero tolerance for gender-based violence,” Mokwena said.  

“[That] is something I try to communicate with the players and I try to influence. You can’t influence the whole society and the whole country, but I can share my feelings on what I think is morally correct and what is morally incorrect. 

“And part of that is not just gender-based violence but violence in general. This is why I appreciate this group of players more than I probably should; they are incredible human beings. It is a pleasure to work with them.”