The Soccer Grannies of South Africa
by Leora Lihach
Mentors, advisors, and local leaders. Culturally portrayed as figures of wisdom and tradition, custodians of culture and collective knowledge. Historically, female elders around the world have stepped up to affect mindsets and social norms.
In the first story of this series, we see how elder women are stepping up in non-Western cultures, primarily in West Africa, and we learn from Ashoka Fellow Dr. Judi Aubel about the importance of involving these women in catalyzing change. In this next story, we shift to South Africa and see how elder women are taking care of not only their communities, but also themselves as a sisterhood, taking back control of their bodies and lives.
Ashoka Fellow Beka Ntsanwisi and the Gogos — Exploring Livelihoods
Beka is enabling her fellow female elders in the rural areas of South Africa to master their responsibilities as the villages’ pillars — to take better care of themselves so they can take better care of their communities.
Younger people in South Africa often migrate to the cities for employment, leaving their families in the care of the grandmothers. With significant responsibilities and without the needed societal support, these women — commonly called “Gogos” in the Sub-Saharan region — become physically, emotionally, and financially stressed.
In 2003, Beka found herself spending time at the hospital for medical treatments, where she met many older women with ailments like hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and rheumatism.
“When I go to hospital, you see that there are many women there. Why women?”
In speaking with these women, Beka realized that their illnesses were often stress- and lifestyle-related. The HIV and AIDS epidemic continues to leave some children orphaned and in their Gogo’s care, although this issue is improving thanks to one of the world’s largest HIV treatment programs.
In other households, the mother might be on her own and in need of the Gogo’s intensive help. “They only get 1,000, maybe 1,200 rands [85 U.S. dollars] to feed more than maybe twelve or eight grandchildren. And it’s stressful to them.”
Healing through Community Exercise and Games
Beka had a brilliantly simple idea to help the Gogos take back their physical and mental strength and consequently embrace their role more effectively as the backbone of the home and community: “One day, I decided we need to do aerobics, take the Grannies to do aerobics.”
Beka realized that exercise has healing effects on the body and mind that medical treatment does not: “I thought by exercising, it will take out all the chemicals that are in me.” While gaining back her own fitness, Beka convinced a few of the Gogos to join her in exercising. Little by little, the simple workouts turned into exciting games.
Beka remembers fondly, “We went to the playing ground only to find that there were boys playing soccer down there. They passed the ball to us, so one Granny, I said, ‘Granny, run!’ and that woman decided to kick the ball. But it couldn’t go far, and the boys were laughing. She tried to run again, kick the ball. It was just going to us — the other Granny kick it, and the other one kick it, and we were laughing. The next day, they called me and said, ‘We need to do this again, it’s nice!’ And that’s how we started.”
From Games to Powerful Transformations
The organization Vakhegula (“Grannies”) was born, becoming a nonprofit in 2006. Vakhegula now reaches the Gogos in more than 40 communities in Limpopo, a northeastern province in South Africa.
Beka recruits and organizes these women, by their respective communities, into soccer teams, and she coordinates tournaments, competitions, and leagues. Beka even has a national team, Vakhegula Vakhegula, which participates in international tournaments.
Through soccer, the Gogos are redefining older age and surpassing expectations, both medically and culturally.
Beka’s venture partner, Coach Jack, describes, “Those Gogos, when they are having problems, they are congested in the brains, but when we play soccer, do the body exercises, that congestion is released. They become free.”
Through the regular exercise of playing on a soccer team, the Gogos prevent and overcome many health issues. Flora Baloi, a striker for the Soccer Grannies and a battler against severe arthritis, shares, “At my age, I think if I was not in this sport, I should have been confined in a wheelchair. I feel good when I strike. And when I strike, even my inner emotion, I strike. I strike physical and inside me. So, a lot of toxins come out of me when I am striking.” She says that thanks to the Soccer Grannies, she no longer needs medication.
A Team Beyond the Field
Beka’s model not only strengthens the Gogos physically, but financially, socially, and emotionally as well. The Soccer Grannies make a small monthly team contribution to support their sisters in purchasing household needs and launching their own ventures.
The soccer teams also serve as a system of guardianship. Coach Jack emphasizes, “That notebook — I always take a record about the Gogos. If someone comes here, I must take the record. If they are not feeling well, I must take the record. Who didn’t come here, I must know who didn’t come here, so that I can go to their house and visit and see what is happening.”
Just as Coach Jack checks in on the players, the Gogos provide counseling to each other. Beka observes, “They love each other. They do the same thing. And they’re proud of themselves.”
The importance of this network cannot be overstated. Some of these women are coming from unsafe environments and are isolated, but they get the financial, social, and emotional support they need from the team.
Beka tells us of one Soccer Grannie’s path: “I’ll tell you about Gayisa. Her husband left her after getting married, leaving her with her kids. That’s why she’s still selling food at schools every day, so that she can get money. And imagine that two years after your husband left you, one of your sons died while working.” In Gayisa’s own words, “I play soccer, I play soccer, I play soccer. I’m strong, I’m strong. I feel pain gone!”
A Vision Materializing
Beka’s model is ensuring that the Gogos have control over their lives and receive societal recognition within and beyond their communities. Beka runs about 40 soccer teams, engaging more than 1,000 Gogos in the Limpopo province as advocates of each other. Beka’s vision is to scale out to all nine provinces in South Africa as well as beyond, to the surrounding countries in Southern Africa.
Beka is also in the process of gathering sponsors for the 2025 Soccer Grannies World Cup and is extending her model to the elderly men through the Bakhalabzi arm of Vakhegula.
Ultimately, Beka is aiming to change society’s perception of the rural elderly, so that communities throughout Southern Africa reject the negative myths that surround older age and instead recognize these people’s capabilities and contributions.
For more on the Soccer Grannies, and to see these women play and the sparkle in their eyes (and Beka’s!) when they speak, check out the following four videos:
Beka Ntsanwisi — Ashoka Fellow — YouTube
South African grannies kick stereotypes out of soccer — YouTube
Soccer grannies | Carte Blanche | M-Net (youtube.com)
Soccer Grannies: South Africa’s Footballing Pensioners Find A New Lease Of Life — YouTube
Check out the following book as well, published in May 2023, Soccer Grannies: The South African Women Who Inspire the World, by Jean Duffy.
At the end of their game in the last video, the Soccer Grannies sing a song:
The soccer pitch has helped us… in fighting against our pain… We are not fighting with anybody… we are just fighting with the pain we have… Beka Ntsanwisi has helped us a lot… in fighting against this pain… We, the Grannies of Nkowankowa… keep fighting through the pain… We are not fighting with anybody… we are just fighting with the pain we have…
Quotes in this article have been edited for clarity and brevity.
