Cape Town -- CONDOLENCES have poured in for Olympic table tennis player and sporting activist Cheryl Roberts, who passed away aged 60, after losing her battle with cancer on Friday.
Roberts represented South Africa as a table tennis player at the 1992 Olympics. She was also among the members of the first National Executive Committee of the National Sports Council -- the forerunners of The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. Her long list of accolades included being awarded the coveted Andrew Mlangeni Green Jacket, an award that honours Rivonia trialist, Andrew Mlangeni.
Sport, Art and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, said the department paid tribute to Roberts.
“An undoubted advocate and activist of non-racial sport and in particular women, Cheryl Roberts dedicated her life to unearthing young talented female women, many of whom have blossomed into successful athletes. Cheryl authored many publications on grassroot sports development and those that profiled women in Sport. Cheryl’s drive and enthusiasm will be sorely missed. Her family’s loss is shared by many in the sports’ movement.”
Roberts’ long-time friend and children’s activist and director at the Molo Songololo organisation, Patric Solomons, said he was “shattered” by her loss.
“I knew Cheryl for over 30-years, and we became good friends. I loved hanging with her. She was a very private person. She loved her sisters and regularly went home to visit the family home in Durban. And she adored the family dogs.
“Cheryl kept her health condition very private. She was diagnosed recently and struggled to keep the cancer under control. I spoke with her on Wednesday. I am shocked and devastated by the news of her passing,” he said. “We lost a champion for women and girls, for gender equality, social justice, and an activist against patriarchy. And a dear friend.”
He said Roberts used her own money to sponsor individual girls and women or clubs with money for transport, food, sports gear, or to get to tournaments.
Solomons recalled how Roberts loved the movies, going to theatres and cultural events and supporting local artists.
“She loved the streets. This is where she engaged with people, photographing them, and promoting their wares. She knew the street sellers in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and elsewhere … and she loved public transport, she often travelled in buses, trains and taxis to the townships to watch and photograph women and girls’ sports events. And she loved exploring Africa, often travelling to one or another African country, just to get refreshed and because she could,” he said.
Western Cape Cultural Affairs and Sport, MEC, Anroux Marais, said Roberts was a wonderful example of a woman who competed at a time when women’s sport was not given much recognition.
“She carried on with her passion for sport and became a voice for women in all sport. She constantly worked to make sure that women in sport would receive the recognition they deserve. She was a true role-model, not only to other female athletes, but to the sporting fraternity as a whole.”
Cape Times