Kaizer Chiefs spark new hope for Sun City inmate

Haunted by the regret of her involvement in the murder of her friend’s teenage love rival, Gugulethu Twala finds renewed hope through a FIFA-run training project with Kaizer Chiefs.

Twala, who has been incarcerated since 2015, says the training has inspired her to guide young people away from a path of violence and despair.

As she reminisces about that fateful day when her victim, Boitumelo Dlamini, only 18 at the time, died, Twala was noticeably disturbed as she recounted the moment she and her friend, Cynthia Mosupi, set her ablaze.

“If I could, I’d wake her up. If I could, I’d wake her up,” the 32-year-old said. “Forgiving yourself is a part of the process you must go through, but the regrets do not go away. It doesn’t go away.”

However, she emphasised that her involvement in the global Twinning Project that the world’s football governing body, FIFA, recently launched in South African prisons had inspired her to hope that, one day, she could work as a coach and deter vulnerable young people from engaging in substance abuse.

“I’m only left with five months [to serve in prison]. The training project has put light where there was darkness,” she told FARPost. “I’m planning to have my soccer team when I come out,” she says, adding that the programme had taught her discipline.

While the Chiefs Twinning Project for a select group of female inmates at Sun City was initially scheduled to run for eight weeks, it was extended to three months.

KAIZER CHIEFS WANTED TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION

Kaizer Chiefs’ marketing director, Jessica Motaung, stated they became involved in the project because they wanted to be part of the solution. Amakhosi staffers Aubrey Mathibe and Muzi Maluleke were the coaches in the Twinning Project.

“We wanted to be part of the solution. South Africans complain about stuff, but how can we be part of the solution for ourselves? And people may see it as a small thing. But, you know, if you do not empower inmates, they don’t have the confidence to come back and be better citizens of this country. And this is what this is about: how we give back and empower to ensure that even if two of the ladies never come back here [Sun City], there’s a difference we’ve made.”

Motaung recalls that the ladies initially appeared dejected at the beginning of the program. However, as the program progressed, she observed they gained confidence and developed a passion for the project.

“The coaches were so sweet. They were like fathers that some of us didn’t have. We created a bond with them,” added Twala.

Cindy Holtzhausen, a 44-year-old mother of two who has been incarcerated for two and a half years, said Chiefs had given them “a sense of hope”.

“I’m excited that a club like Chiefs would do something like this, especially for us prisoners. It gives us an opportunity… a sense of hope for ourselves as women. We can definitely take the game out there for other women,” Holtzhausen told FARPost.

ABOUT FIFA’S TWINNING PROJECT

Pioneering in the UK, where professional football clubs are at the forefront, FIFA’s Twinning Project has gained recognition within both the UK and the USA criminal justice systems.

As the Department of Correctional Services [DCS] reported, the initiatives associated with the Twinning Project across several facilities have offered “skills training, mentorship, and chances for inmates to participate in structured football programs aimed at promoting discipline and social unity.”

“In the beginning, it was difficult [because some of the ladies were new to football], but as time passed, we started enjoying ourselves,” Aubrey Mathibe, a goalkeeper coach at PSL side Chiefs, told FARPost. “Now they realise it’s not all about the men’s game. And that they can play football and even women can make it in football.”

Mathibe said they focused on the basics during the programme. The drills they conducted involved passing and receiving and laws of the game, like the offside rule. “And then again, in theory, you show them the tactical and technical side of the modern game.”

Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United are also participants in this initiative. “When we launched it, we never thought the ladies would see it through,” DCS deputy minister Lindiwe Ntshalintshali told FARPost.

“Today [Thursday], they’re more resilient, they are more fitter, more dedicated to making sure that as coaches, they utilise the skills imparted to them.”

She commended Amakhosi for participating in the initiative, urging other clubs to join in as well.

RELATED STORY: Agent gives latest on Kaizer Chiefs’ Sphephelo Sithole pursuit