Having overcome more personal challenges than most to stay competitive at the highest level, Proteas women’s cricketer Sinalo Jafta was awarded one of the most meaningful honours at the Cricket SA (CSA) Awards in July: the Makhaya Ntini Power of Cricket Award.
CSA describes the accolade as one that celebrates an individual embodying resilience, humility, and the transformative power of sport within lives and communities.
KuGompo City-born Jafta has spoken openly about her recovery journey in her battle with addiction, standing out as an inspirational figure in a squad packed with world-class talent.
For all these reasons, receiving the award was a deeply emotional moment.
“It means everything. It means sometimes it’s not just about what happens on the field.
“Sometimes it takes a lot of life lessons and a lot of challenges to get to that point.
“With this recognition, it means that whatever I’m doing, I’m doing it well,” Jafta told SportsBoom.co.za in an exclusive interview.
Her story serves as a beacon of hope in the ongoing conversation around mental health support in SA sport, a discussion made even more urgent following the tragic death of 25-year-old Bafana Bafana player Jayden Adams shortly after the Fifa World Cup.
While official circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation, police have opened an inquest docket into the matter.
While questions remain regarding the level of mental health support provided across different sporting codes, Jafta emphasised that CSA was steadfast in supporting her through her darkest hours.
“The most important thing for me was that when I got given the opportunity to come clean about my addiction, I took it.
“First, I denied it. I was saying earlier to someone that it took me a year to acknowledge that I was an alcoholic.
“The doctor and the head coach at the time reached out and said, ‘Jaf, we think we have a problem here’.
“It still took me a year to actually get help.
“When I did finally say, ‘Listen, I have a problem,’ they literally said, ‘We got you’.
“That’s the one thing I’ll always be grateful to Cricket South Africa for doing, sending me into rehab.
“They weren’t obligated to, but they said, ‘We see something’.
“They allowed me a period of about two months inside, away from the outside world, and they gave me that second chance.
“With players struggling mentally, with addiction, or whatever it is, asking for help is the first step to getting better.
“If you think you’re afraid, you’ll be surprised how many people are actually willing to help.
“I had that fear for a year before I went into rehab.”
Given everything she has overcome, on-field pressures might seem trivial in life’s grand scheme, but that isn’t how Jafta approaches the game.
Instead, she brings that same self-awareness and discipline to her everyday process.
“The one thing I’ve learnt is to take it one day at a time,” she said.
“If I think too far ahead, then I’m going to be overly confident, or arrogant, or my ego is going to get in the way, because I am an egotistical person, and I think every athlete has one or two of those traits.
“But if anything, taking it day by day keeps me humble; it keeps me sane.
“I’m really, really grateful for just today.
“How I train is I max-out my body today, because tomorrow is another day.
“Even though I wake up with aches and pains, I know it was worth it.
“For me, it is about contributing to the team.
“From a team environment perspective, I’m very chilled.
“You’ll always hear me being positive and assertive to players, and I think everybody deserves an opportunity.” — Sportsboom
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