Mzansi’s rising sport stars end year on a high

Mduduzi Shabalala

For Kaizer Chiefs teenage sensation Mduduzi Shabalala, 2022 will go down as a magical year.

The young lad played for Kaizer Chiefs in the Multichoice League which is meant to produce young talent and provide them with opportunities to play, and be promoted to the first division team.

The 18-year-old made his debut in a match against Swallows that ended in a 2-2 draw. He also played in the match against Royal AM where he scored a hat-trick in the DStv Premiership.

By scoring the goal, Shabalala became the third player to score a goal at the age of 18 under Chiefs colours after Mandla Masango and Wiseman Meyiwa did it years ago. The player also went for trials at Belgian club KVC Westerlo.

The deal did not materialise because of money disagreements. Shabalala also toured Spain after he was named Player of the Tournament during the Cosafa U17 tournament in 2020. He spent a week training with Spanish La Liga giants’ juniors Villarreal, just for experience.

Noxolo Cesane

Banyana Banyana and French side Stade Reims player Noxolo Cesane was one of the rising stars in 2022. Raised in Cape Town, she was one of the shining stars during the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) tournament that took place in Morocco in July. Cesane might not have scored goals during the tournament but she created a lot of goals. She was very instrumental when Banyana Banyana beat one of the hard-to-beat teams, Nigerian, 2-1.  

Cesane made her Banyana debut back in 2019 during the Cosafa Women’s Championship in Gqeberha. She went on to score her first goal in Banyana’s 3-1 win against Malawi in the regional tournament. The midfielder and Women’s Africa Cup champion, Cesane ended the year on a bang, signing a contract with French side Stade Reims. Cesane, whose twin sister Sinoxolo is playing in the US, made strides over the past few years, having represented SA U17, U20 and now the senior team.

Ayabonga Khaka

Ayabonga Khaka is one of the cricket players who saw her career climbing to the top in 2020. Khaka, who comes from Middledrift in the Eastern Cape, made history as the fifth South African woman to take 100 one-day international (ODI) wickets. The right-arm medium bowler was rewarded for her expressive performance when she was named SA Player of the Year during the Cricket SA Awards in August. Her impressive performance started in 2021 when the 30-year-old took nine-wickets playing against West Indies in both one-day international and T20 series.

Khaka was part of the cricket team that participated in the Women's T20 Cricket World Cup early this year. SA ended their World Cup campaign at the semifinal stage, with Khaka having already impressed with 12 wickets and finished sixth on the wicket-taker’s list.

Boitumelo Mahloko

Netball star Boitumelo Mahloko’s star is rising ahead of the Netball World Cup 2023 that will take place in SA. The Limpopo-born goal defender has represented the country in all levels, starting with the Under-16 side that won the Cossasa Games which she captained.

Her first call-up to the senior team was in 2021 where she was named part of the Proteas side for the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series in Jamaica. It was, however, called off with the hosts citing concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. Mahloko is now based in Johannesburg and was part of the squad that recently won the Africa Netball World Cup Qualifiers.

She’s also donned the green and gold for the Under-20 and Baby Proteas, where she represented the country at the Netball World Youth Cup in Fiji in 2021. Mahloko started representing the country back in 2017 in u16 (2017), u20 (2018) and u21 (2020-2021) level.

She made her senior debut for the Crinums in the 2019 Telkom Netball League. She also played for the Kovsies in 2019. In 2020, while playing for the Crinums and SA u21 sides in the Telkom Netball League, she walked away with a Player of the Match prize.