NOOBANI, NEW SHINING PAARL

Teenager is lighting up SA20 league. Gomesh S tracks pacer’s journey from KwaMashu township in Durban to biggest T20 meet in SA

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H, oh oh, I can’t even... I’m very proud of him,” says an emotional Princess Mokoena when asked how proud she is of her son and young Paarl Royals fast bowler Ngobani. “Oh, he is like a son to the family, not only to me.” Ngobani, at 19, is already one of the pacers to watch out for. And he is making waves in the ongoing SA20 league. In the six matches he has played so far, Ngobani has taken nine wickets at an average 21.44 average and 8.77 economy, receiving accolades from legends, including Dale Steyn. The praise does not come without merit. The lanky seamer, who was part of South Africa U19 team at the 2024 World Cup, has been hitting the speed guns and winning matches for his team.

However, the story of Nqobani is not just about his cricketing skills and the sheer pace he generates. It is about a young boy from KwaMashu (one of the townships established under the apartheid era in the 1950s to relocate Black South Africans) who survived poverty, crime and other struggles to keep his cricketing dream alive, grabbing every chance that came his way.

Ngobani was raised by Princess, a single mother who works as an assistant in a private firm, with help from her parents. His late grandfather, who used to box back in the day, encouraged Ngobanito stick to cricket when football was the popular sport in the township. Growing up in a 12-member family with his grandmother, elder brother Senzo, along with Princess and her sisters, Ngobani was as mischievous as any young kid in the township. He used to skip classes and play cricket.