Confidentiality riding the waves of life
“I am a determined person and my disability has never been an excuse not to strive for something better; it has always been a motivation.”
As a 24-year-old living with albinism, Sabelo Ngema has literally been making waves in the sporting world and in other spheres of life as well.
Sabelo does ‘para surfing’ and has even taken part in the World Championships in the USA. Para surfing (or adaptive surfing) is a form of surfing in which a disabled individual uses a board or waveski to ride on a breaking wave.
He explains that he lived in different areas around the Zululand District since his mother found herself in between jobs, but is now based in Durban. That’s where he was introduced to para surfing in 2018 by an educator who ran an organisation. Sabelo told the teacher that he would love to give the sport a try… And the bug bit him hard; he has never looked back since.
In 2020, Sabelo took part in the Para Surfing World Championships in La Jolla, San Diego, California. La Jolla is a hilly, seaside community occupying about 11km of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. Sabelo obtained seventh place at the World Champs. “The experience I had was a life-changing moment. I couldn’t believe I was overseas; it was like a beautiful dream,” he exclaims.
Sabelo also holds the record of being the first Zulu-speaking person to represent South Africa at international level.
In 2021 and 2022, he came second in KZN and at the South African Para Surfing Championships, and was also crowned ‘Sportsman of the Year with a Disability’ in KZN.
As evidence of how well-rounded he is in life, Sabelo holds a qualification in Business Law that he obtained from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and was the winner of the VUNA award for being the most inspirational student at DUT.
He explains that when he was still in high school, he had a desire to venture into the business world. He used to cut the boys’ hair at his school, as well as sell sweets to the learners. He mentions that he has always been an active person, doing karate, judo, blind bowling, cycling, climbing and other sporting activities at school. “I am a determined person and my disability has never been an excuse not to strive for something better; it has always been a motivation.”
He ends off by saying that he is currently travelling a lot and does motivational speaking on his travels. It is his dream to get more people to do this kind of sport; he has already started teaching children in different areas about para surfing. Sabelo is SABZATHEPROSUFER on Instagram and Sabelo S’phe / Sabelo Ngema on Facebook.
ASLO READ: Disability not holding him back
The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.
