Silent revolution to revive Bafokeng sport

The demise of Platinum Stars as a PSL team took some shine away from Rustenburg as a sporting site, but a combination of Royal Bafokeng Sports and a mining company is doing its best to make the North West mining town reemerge as a force in the sports fraternity.

Last weekend as South Africans tuned into the biggest football match in the country, Royal Bafokeng Sports – owned by the platinum rich Bafokeng tribe – and Impala Platinum Holdings hosted the finals of their Metshameko Programme, a youth development tournament for girls and boys in netball and football respectively.

It was staged at the Royal Marang sports complex in Phokeng, which used to house Platinum Stars until they were controversially sold in 2018. The dissolution of the club angered many locals who saw the club’s existence as a way to ensure the world-class facilities in the sprawling complex – which has a five-star hotel, a gym and training grounds for all kinds of sports – and the neighbouring Royal Bafokeng Stadium, do not turn into white elephants.

But last Saturday, hundreds of juniors could be found competing inside the complex in what the Bafokeng bosses say is proof that sport is still part and parcel of the mineral rich nation, despite the absence of high-profile events in the area.

“The perception that our sports died with Platinum Stars is wrong,” said George Khunou, a community leader at Royal Bafokeng Sports, who also used to serve as chairman of Stars. “We have always been about development even before we bought Stars. The major difference is running a PSL team is costly – that’s why we decided to sell. But we invested in the development; that’s why you see youngsters here today.”

Khunou dismissed suggestions the 44,000-seat stadium, which hosted World Cup matches in 2010, had become a white elephant since Dikwena went extinct. “That stadium was built for the benefit of the community, it’s not a commercial stadium. So, we use it for our projects and it is well maintained. Of course, it’s open to anyone; hence we’ve had PSL games there (a Nedbank Cup final in May and a recent Marumo Gallants v Kaizer Chiefs game). It’s a myth that it is underutilised.”

The Metshameko Programme saw schools in the Bafokeng region eliminating one another since the start of the year, culminating in semifinals and finals at the weekend.

Orlando Pirates legend Brandon Silent was among those who missed his team’s loss to Chiefs in the derby as he was overseeing some of the players he scouted throughout the year at the event.

“I became involved at the beginning of the year and I must say the talent here is exceptional,” said Silent, who was roped in by Impala to help identify future gems. “We have grand plans to produce professional players from this area – even if it is one, I’ll be very happy. We go around schools where our mines are and pick the best players. I’m confident we will succeed.”

The programme is in its sixth year and Royal Bafokeng Sports’ founder Eugene Thipe reckons it has grown so much that they will consider making it an all-weekend event from next year.

“Platinum Stars may be gone but we’ve kept the development structures. The players you see here play in the Safa regional leagues. This is the same area which produced Gift Links and Kobamelo Kodisang (who both represented Stars and later moved overseas), so we will continue to look for more talent. We will spread participation to more schools and look to host it at Royal Bafokeng Stadium next year. We will expand beyond football because we also have a good basketball programme, which we run with the NBA,” Thipe said.