Coaches Unite to Tackle GBV and Mental Health Issues in South African Football

As part of Carling Black Label’s ongoing campaign with the PSL to raise awareness and combat Gender-Based Violence across the country, Durban was the latest city to drive change this week.

It is a well-known fact that GBV in South Africa remains one of the biggest societal challenges—one the government has struggled to address.

Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi and his AmaZulu counterpart Arthur Zwane shared the stage on Wednesday, reflecting on the challenges they face as coaches.

Zwane and Mngqithi explained that, because they work with players daily, they frequently deal with young men from different backgrounds—some who have suffered abuse, and others who have grown up without both parents. As a result, their roles extend far beyond football coaching.

“As coaches, we have become psychologists ourselves,” said Zwane in Durban on Wednesday.

“Even in coaching courses, we discuss these issues. The last time I was with coach Mngqithi, we were doing the CAF A Licence refresher course. On our way to the practical session—I was driving and the coach said, ‘Let’s be like AmaZulu.’

“We were travelling from SAFA House to Fun Valley [SAFA Technical Centre], the four of us in the car—coach Steve Komphela, coach Mandla Ncikazi and coach Manqoba. Why am I mentioning them? You’ve seen what they’ve done for the game.

“The game has rewarded them for how they’ve respected and treated it. We always say: you reap what you sow in life, and they are reaping the rewards.

“It’s not easy for them, but they are great examples for everyone—especially young and upcoming coaches. We learn from them.

“They don’t know that I’ve been observing quietly—looking at what coach Mandla is doing, what coach Manqoba is doing.

“Look at Mandla—he has been an assistant coach for a long time, doing his job quietly. Why? Because he is a humble man. Because he knows his job.

“The minute you understand, as coaches and as players, that football is not a hobby but a profession, things become better for you.”

Mngqithi, like Zwane, sits with 20 to 30 players every day—each with unique footballing issues, personal struggles and difficult home situations. Mentally, it is demanding. He has to think positively and avoid shouting unnecessarily, because some players cannot handle that pressure.

“We operate in a terrain that many people do not understand,” said Mngqithi, who has been appointed as part of the Carling Cup technical team for Saturday’s event at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The Carling Cup final at Moses Mabhida Stadium will see the Carling All Stars face newly crowned Carling Knockout Cup champions Orlando Pirates.

“Even the drivers of these campaigns may not fully understand the direction things are taking because, when you study football, the fundamental performance factors include the psychological component.

“But if you look at the 16 teams in the league, as well as the 16 in the Motsepe Foundation Championship, I don’t know of a single team that employs a psychologist to help players with mental challenges—and yet psychology is a fundamental factor.

“As coach Arthur said, we are doing jobs that could even get us into prison one day because we are not trained psychologists. We are trying to fix things because we want to win matches, and we end up playing the role of psychologists.

“The things we deal with as coaches go far beyond what we should be handling, because we don’t have the capacity.

“In society, people care only about the results that players must deliver. I was fortunate to study at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg—psychological applications in football coaching. Not many coaches have had that opportunity.

“One of the key lessons from that course was that footballers are human beings before they are footballers.

“They are not machines or resources meant to bring us glory. They are human beings. And sometimes we forget that and assume everything is normal.

“If Arthur were to share what he has experienced with his players, and I were to share stories from my 25 years of coaching, you would realise that the challenges players face are far beyond what society is willing to listen to.

“Society expects someone like Nduduzo Sibiya to be in top physical and tactical condition, yet nobody talks about the psychological aspect. But it is fundamental. Because for a person to perform, his brain must be in the right space—the brain transmits information to the entire body.

“But if the brain is not in a good space, the performance will suffer.”