Photo Credit: Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has learnt with sadness of the passing of legendary broadcaster and revered sports commentator, Dumile Mateza, who departed these shores on Tuesday.
Born in Kareedouw in the Eastern Cape 62 years ago, Mateza started out as a teacher at Newell High School in New Brighton, Gqeberha in 1979, but soon swapped the classroom for the microphone. He joined the SABC in the 1980s as an isiXhosa newsreader on television, before finding a permanent home in the sports commentary world.
His passion for sport, coupled with the prowess to carry faultless commentary in IsiXhosa, Afrikaans and English cemented his legendary status in the sports-broadcasting fraternity. Mateza’s fame escalated to a crescendo when he did commentary in Afrikaans for the SABC during 1995 Rugby World Cup.
A boxing enthusiast of note, Mateza, nicknamed ‘Phesheya Phaya’ was a former Boxing South Africa (BSA) board member and acting chief executive officer of the erstwhile South African National Boxing Control Commission (SANBCC). However, he was passionate about transformation in sport and access for the historically disadvantaged across all sporting codes.
Setting the scene at the Social Justice Nation-building (SJN) hearings held in 2021, Mateza decried the lack of access as a barrier-in-chief, which robs the African child from enjoying the benefit of sport. He called on the sporting industry to make access an abiding pillar of its development paradigm.
Commenting on the sad passing of Mateza, CSA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Pholetsi Moseki said:
“Dumile was one of the few sports commentators who understood the power of language to speak to the heart of his audiences. He had a unique way of entertaining, while using sport a means to reconciliation, social cohesion, and nation-building.
“Much as his passing is a momentous loss to all of us, his lessons of humility, servitude and dedication are a legacy that will be indelibly etched in memory for years to come.”
Chairperson of the CSA Board, Lawson Naidoo added:
“Dumile Mateza devoted his entire adult life to the service of sport. He grew to become the giant he was, fighting against dehumanization in favour of representivity in the sport broadcasting industry. We are indebted to him and his generation for bringing back the dignity of South Africans through his relentless toil in the airwaves. He crossed over seamlessly from the commentary box to host a popular programme, Rights and Recourse on SABC TV, unpacking aspects of the constitution and human rights in an accessible manner.”
“On behalf of Cricket South Africa, I send my condolences to the Mateza family, friends, the sporting industry, and the millions of South Africans, whom he has touched in more ways than one. May you all be sustained and comforted by the special memories of this great titan. Lala kahle Nala!”
