It was during her years as a young student at the former Vista University, Mamelodi, that she made a conscious decision that she would get involved in football – a male dominated sport – and would one day sit on South Africa’s football national executive committee.
Hard work and determination clearly paid off for Nomsa Mahlangu, HoD of Sports Administration at the Durban University of Technology, with her re-recent election into the South African Football Association (SAFA) National Executive Committee (NEC). Her term expires four years from her election.
Mahlangu received the most number of votes during the organisation’s elective congress which was held on Saturday (September 28, 2013) at Helderfontein Estate, Midrand. A total of 36 candidates were vying for 10 seats in the organisation’s NEC.
“I’m humbled and honored (by my re-election). It (my re-election) shows that people see that I can contribute towards making South African football a better sport,” she said.
Mahlangu’s journey with SAFA started when she was a student at the then Vista University where she as pursuing her studies in Education. At the time, Mahlangu was involved in student politics where one of the challenges was getting students to be involved in sports. Her knowledge and passion for soccer would lead to her deployment into the University’s sports council.
In 2009, she was elected into the organisation’s NEC where her main focus remained on growing women’s football. From 2009 to 2013 September, she chaired Women’s Football and under her leadership, the women’s national football Under-17 (U-17) team qualified for the FIFA World Cup U-17.
After Saturday’s FIFA elective congress, Mahlangu became one of four women who serve on the NEC, a reality she does not take lightly. “I chaired Women’s Football because of the work I did during previous years. Also, because of a vision I had and shared with my committee, Banyana Banyana was able to qualify for the Olympics. There was a lot of talk about SAFA’s inability to get sponsorships, which is a worldwide challenge, but even so, under my leadership, we were able to renew Banyana Banyana’s SASOL sponsorship (in June this year),” she said.
Mahlangu holds a Bachelor of Leisure Sciences (Event and Facility Management) from the University of Free State and a BA Hons in Human Movement Science (Sports and Recreation) from the same university.
Her current positions include 2013 AFCON Organising Committee Director as well as SAFA Commercial, Marketing, Media, Strategic Studies and International Affairs Committee Chairperson.
Her previous positions include 2010 FIFA World Cup Local Organisiong Committee Director (2009-2011), South African Students’ Sports Union (SASSU) Free State Chairman (2001-2004) as well as SASSU Football National Men’s Team (CUCSA) Zambia Manager (1999-1999). In 2011, she was nominated for the 2011 SA Sports Awards Sports Administrator of the Year. During the same year, she scooped CEO Magazine’s Most Influential Women in Business and Goverment award.
Speaking about the state of South African football in terms of gender, Mahlangu said the growth of men’s football has stagnated while women’s football has more flair. She made an example of the 2010 FIFA World Cup final match between Netherlands and Spain which she described as “dull” as opposed to the women’s 2011 Women’s World Cup, Germany, which “had more goals”.
“Salaries are high for men. Women (on the other hand) still play to enjoy and explore as opposed to (playing for) money. It shows we can use the game to grow women and to bring back the flair and excitement into the game”, she said.
Apart from her duties of being a leader and a mother, Mahlangu also mentors young women in sports and politics. Part of her success is because she lives by the words of the late Kediemetse
Tshoma whom she met during the 90s. Kediemetse, who was involved in sports, told Mahlangu that “you can have whatever you want, it all depends on how soon you start”. These words would propel Mahlangu to success.
“I live by those words. We live in a patriarchal society, so for me, tokenism and women empowerment are two different things. In order for you as a woman to succeed, you must make a conscious decision to get involved in what you want. I’ve never been clever. I got where I am today because I also took a conscious decision that I would get involved in football and would one day make it to the sport’s national executive level while I was at university,” she said.
– Sinegugu Ndlovu
Pictured: Nomsa Mahlangu, Sports Administration HoD at DUT, is clearly on the ball with her recent re-election into SAFA’s National Executive Committee.
