By Akhona Ngxikwe
In an age where equal recognition according to gender is an increasing matter in sport, Die Matie was already documenting women who were redefining South African sport decades ago.
Leafing through the newspaper’s archives is like opening a time capsule. Front pages celebrate Olympian Elana Meyer, profiles introduce rising athletics star Tanya Peckham, and a 1992 sports cover proudly announces, “Dis Barcelona toe!” (“To Barcelona!”): swimmers Marianne Kriel and Petro Nortjé qualified for the Barcelona Olympic Games.
Elana van Zyl (right) proudly led the fierce competition, representing SU in the 1980s. Photo: Stephen Granger
For today’s athletes, that visibility means far more than seeing their names in print. “Coverage has definitely helped put women’s basketball on the map at Stellenbosch,” said Lukhanyo Nkonzo, a Maties women’s basketball player and BScHons (Sport Science) student.
“When our achievements are shared through university media, more students become aware of our programme and recognise the work we put in behind the scenes,” she said. Nkonzo believes increased visibility has helped attract greater interest in the team and acknowledge the commitment required to compete at university level.
For Miriam Ndjadi, fourth-year BA (Humanities) student, who helped Maties netball claim gold at the 2023 University Sports South Africa (USSA) Championships, media coverage validates the commitment required to compete at an elite level while balancing university life. “People see the medal,” she said, “but they don’t always see the early mornings, the sacrifices and everything that happens behind the scenes.”
A Die Matie front page from 1992 celebrated swimmers Marianne Kriel (right) and Petro Nortjé (left) as they prepared to represent South Africa at the Barcelona Olympic Games. Sourced: Die Matie archives
Captain of the Maties women’s hockey team and postgraduate LLB second-year student, Armin van Staden, believes storytelling has become just as important as scorelines. “Coverage preserves achievements that might otherwise be forgotten, while inspiring younger players to believe they can one day wear the maroon jersey themselves,” she said.
Former Die Matie sports editor Jóhann Thormählen, who led the sports section in 2007, said gender was never the deciding factor when assigning stories. “There was never a time where I felt men’s sport was covered more than women’s sport,” he said. “It happened naturally.”
Instead, reporters pitched stories based on performances and newsworthiness. Yet Thormählen acknowledges that inequalities still existed beyond the newsroom. “There still are many realities women in sport face today, which their male counterparts don’t,” he said.
His perspective is echoed by former Die Matie Sports Editor Kuhle Mangana, who is currently doing her Honours in Journalism, who believes student journalism has a responsibility not only to report sport but also to shape the conversation around it. “If we continue to put the power in the hands of the audience, then the coverage of women’s sport is never going to change,” she said.
She points to the record-breaking audience of the 2023 Netball World Cup as evidence that interest in women’s sport grows when people are given the opportunity to watch it. “When you give it to them, they receive it really well,” she said. “It’s not that there is a lack of interest in women’s sports, there just isn’t enough exposure.”
Tanya Peckham, named Sportswoman of the Year 1985, celebrating a season in which she broke records and earned Springboks colours. Sourced: Die Matie archives
Across generations, one thing becomes impossible to ignore. The names change, Tanya Peckham becomes Elana Meyer, Elana Meyer becomes Marianne Kriel, Marianne Kriel becomes Laura Wolvaardt, and today they become Nkonzo, Ndjadi and the current generation of Maties athletes, but the story remains remarkably familiar.
For 85 years, Die Matie has chronicled women breaking records, representing South Africa and reshaping Maties sport. The yellowing newspaper clippings scattered throughout the archives are more than historical keepsakes. They are proof that every generation has produced women whose achievements deserved to be remembered and that Die Matie has been there to tell their stories.
