Parly Sport Committee highlights gender inequality in SA sport

The Parliament’s Sport, Art and Culture portfolio committee has been informed of the persistent gender inequality in South African sports, particularly in women’s soccer. A report by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) examined the challenges faced by the national women’s soccer team, Banyana Banyana. The CGE’s researcher, Lieketseng Mohlakoane-Motopi, emphasized that despite their achievements, female athletes often have to balance their sports commitments with other income-generating activities.

Mohlakoane-Motopi explained, "Female athletes are often required to juggle sports with other income generating activities. They don’t give it a full focus because whatever that they get there, it’s not sufficient as the income that the bafana bafana get."

Banyana Banyana’s coach, Dr Desiree Ellis, emphasized the need for a professional league to support the growth and survival of the sport. Ellis stated, "A professional league is of utmost importance. We lose players because they have to put food on the table. We lose players because they work weekends. Players work nine to fives.

They train in the evening and these same players are the ones that play for the national team. Can you just imagine if they just needed to concentrate on football, where we would be in women’s football." Ellis also highlighted cyberbullying as one of the major issues the team faces, noting its detrimental impact on players’ mental health and career decisions: "I think cyber bullying has become big.

As sports people, we’re open to criticism. There’s no two ways about it. But I think a line has to be drawn when it becomes personal. That has become so big that we’ve seen people commit suicide. We’ve seen players retire from sport because of that."