70 percent women crew delivers a successful DStv SNC

MultiChoice continues to lead the way in supporting and empowering women in broadcasting.

The recently concluded DStv Schools Netball Challenge nationals in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni was another opportunity for the company to showcase the prowess of women in the business.

The production of the two-day tournament was mostly handled by women who made up around 70 per cent of the crew including a floor manager, producer, camera operators and commentators. This was the perfect start of the many upcoming dress rehearsals for the big one, the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town which will be held on African soil for the first time.

Supersport.com chatted to four of them about sports and broadcasting.

Mathapelo Mathelemusa - Camera Operator

A career day at Mathapelo Mathelemusa’s high school sparked the start of her relationship with the camera. Vision View Productions had a presentation at her school and she was intrigued.

"They came to school and did a presentation and I thought actually ‘this is me.’ I then asked to job shadow. The first day after the job shadowing I was like, I’m in. I did my internship first in 2019 which ended last year and then Covid hit, it was bad. I came back again and started freelancing last October. I love visuals and I’m into sport. The fact that I am able to watch sport and still show people what I am doing is something, I feel at ease. I am happy,” she said.

Mathelemusa believes there are more women who can get into the industry and become camera operators in particular, especially if they are driven by love and passion.

“We need to know that doing what you love has no gender. The problem is we listen to what people say. The male-dominated industry is rough and people make decisions based on that and others prefer doing things that are popular and not what they love,” she concluded.

Zamabomvu Ngubane - Graphic Operator

"It was great, quite challenging but it was great to see young people playing sport. Each and every tournament that we do, we try to do our best. We prepare better and we learn from the last mistakes, then we continue moving forward. Mostly on our side is because people are training, so we are getting people ready for 2023 so that we have more people who know how to work on a game, how to put graphics on air. It’s the timing. The game is very quick. Netball is a very quick game so sometimes the timing is the issue, it’s a hurdle and not an obstacle. We will get over it,” said Ngubane.

As the netball world prepares to come down to South Africa for the World Cup, Multichoice is getting ready to bring this global spectacle to the world by preparing and training the crew that will bring this competition to global screens.

"Currently, I’m training myself and another person at the same time, which is a really difficult thing to do. I know the game, I know the sport, it is just that the graphics part, I need to know when to put what and what graphics do they need, just be creative on my side. It’s a learning curve but we’ll get there. We have enough time to practice,” she added.

Nontle Gwavu - Netball Commentator

An executive from Netball South Africa suggested Nontle Gwavu try her hand at commentating after she retired from playing. Although she had doubts at first, she’s now one of the leading netball commentators at SuperSport. The former Spar Proteas player, who was part of the DStv Schools Netball Challenge commentary team, says the competition is a good platform to expose and teach players from both Botho and Ubuntu about each other’s backgrounds.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go to mixed schools to get an opportunity. I went to a kasi primary and high school but I think what needs to happen is you need to be active. You need to have a society where sports is taken seriously.

"I think this opportunity with DStv is giving the kids a chance to compete, participate and be exposed to cameras. In the past few years, we’ve only seen players starting to experience those things at the varsity level. I think it’s good, especially for Ubuntu, get them out of those rural areas, also give them an opportunity to play against the likes of (Hoerskool) Menlopark, Affies (Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool),” said Gwavu.

She believes that this will unearth a lot of talent for the future while levelling the playing field.

“The talent in South Africa is so big but we really need to go deeper. But I think we really need to go deeper because I think there are some areas where we need to go. Deep down in the rural areas. There are those tallies that we are looking for, strong girls that we can give the opportunity to. I am grateful,” she added.

Mamocha Moeketsi - Producer

Mamocha Moeketsi has been granted an opportunity outside of her comfort zone. From working in the office and being responsible for the feed from matches to being in the frontline and working on what needs to go onto the field and on screen. Although she has found the experience challenging, she says she’s grateful for the opportunity to learn.

“We are preparing for the World Cup in 2023, so I have been given the opportunity to work on the tournament. They want to bring in more females, because this is a male-dominated industry. I used to work mainly in the building, like the studios and galleries as an assistant producer and now I have been given the opportunity to be a producer of netball.

“It’s an opportunity and it’s about time. It will motivate other girls, maybe after this, they will decide to play. Maybe they want to be behind the scenes or be commentators or analysts. It’s a great opportunity and we are grateful for it,” said Moeketsi.