Addiction is no easy demon to exorcise. But, for South Africa Women’s wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta, it was not a choice, but a need to defeat the same and grab life by her hands.
She sure did the same, as the safe hands of Jafta now stand behind the stumps for the Proteas, who are trumping over their opponents with ease this Women’s T20 World Cup.
In a conversation with ICC, Jafta opened up about her once-losing battle with alcoholism and described how receiving help from long-time Proteas coach Hilton Moreeng helped her get her life back on track.
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Moreeng and team doctor Dr. Tshegofatso Gaetsewe helped the then 27-year-old check into an alcohol rehabilitation facility in KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in October 2022.
“If you don’t come clean here, I don’t think you’re going to make it out alive,” Jafta said she admitted to herself at the time, knowing her promising cricket career had to be put on hold as she dealt with a fight for survival.
“I entered rehab and that humbled me, but I still didn’t admit that I was an alcoholic,” Jafta recalled.
“At that point I realised that if I lose my cricket career, so be it … It was my life that I was trying to get back. Whether I had a career coming back, it didn’t matter.
“I think alcohol was killing me at that point if I’m being honest.
“I was called arrogant, entitled and selfish by the people I stayed with (in rehab), but it wasn’t a malicious point as they cared (for me).
“But that was what it took, as I look back and I was arrogant, I was very selfish and I was very entitled. I will admit that.”
Jafta is now a more balanced individual and spends less time worrying about her past demons and is more focused on flourishing as a cricketer and giving back to those that have trusted her over the journey.
While Jafta debuted for South Africa back in 2016, it’s only in the last 24 months that she has found her way in life and established herself as a mainstay within the Proteas setup and behind the stumps in all formats of the game.
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