Peddie, at last census count, has a population of 4 658. Two hours by bus to Gqeberha, one hour to East London. It’s rural Eastern Cape. There are 86% are isiXhosa speakers, 98% are Black Africans and 46% are male. And then there is Ndyebo Lamani.
The 32-year-old has put the small town on the global map – and there are some who still struggle to accept that the kid who grew up with his blind mother Vathiwe and his aunt Neliswa, is part of Team South Africa and competing for his country at the 2024 Paralympics.
“I had to take my passport and a medal that I had previously won to the elder in the village because no-one would believe that I could representing South Africa. They told me, ‘it’s impossible, you are dreaming’. I was this kid who was bullied at primary school before I went to Khanyasi School for the Visually Impaired in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).
“We were encouraged to take up sport and I started out as a 100m and 200m track athlete for the visually impaired. I only then took up judo, which is late for a judo player and I got my black belt seven years ago when I was twenty-something, maybe 25. Three years later my condition had got worse and I was reclassified from a J2 (visually impaired) to a J1 (blind). There are regular tests done to see whether someone needs to be reclassified.”
We’re sitting in a room in the Paralympic athletes village in Paris and Lamani has been accompanied by coach Dirk Crafford. The latter has known Lamani, who competes in the J1 73kg category at these Games and is ranked 13th in the world, since 2011.
“Ndyebo has never had a father in his life but he and I have become so close over the years that I think we have that kind of relationship. I am one of a few coaches who guide him but I live in Roodepoort and am honoured to have been selected to be his Team SA coach here in Paris. His main coach and the man who must take so much credit for Ndyebo’s judo success is Sondisa Magajana.”
They say that it takes a village to raise a child and that rings true in Lamani’s case.
“Whenever Ndyebo has been selected for the national team he comes to stay with me in Roodepoort and is part of our family. He takes the bus from Peddie to Roodepoort and sleeps overnight on the bus. It’s logistically easier, given he then doesn’t have to travel to the airport in Gqeberha first and then fly to Johannesburg. It’s also more cost effective. Now, drivers also know of his impairment. He was with me for six weeks leading up to these Paralympics.”
The sports star with the golden smile has an infectious personality and has won over friends from near and far while enjoying his experience of Paralympic life. “I started collecting pins (a trend among athletes from different countries) yesterday and I got six on my first day!” he says. “It’s easy for me to make friends, I like to talk. This is my first Paralympics. I got Covid just before qualification for Tokyo 2020 so I missed out on that.”
Lamani was born with a visual impairment which has got progressively worse. “It’s a genetic condition,” he says. “My grandfather was blind, my mom is blind and I’m now blind. When I say blind I mean I’m not visually impaired. I can’t see. I have two children, a 10-year-old son who became visually impaired at the age of six and who will probably become blind, and a 14-year-old daughter, who can see. She’s OK.”
The only judo player representing his country at these Games is in close contact with his family back home and updates them. “I speak to my mom every day on the phone. She is so proud and she says the people of Peddie are too. My mom says they are all talking about me. She wants to listen on the radio to the Paralympics but if it’s not on the radio I will phone her to tell her how my competition went.”
Crafford says he received a phone call less than two months ago to say that Lamani had been selected for Paris. "Vicky Hlatswayo gave me the news. We were all very emotional. Although we had travelled overseas before and Ndyebo had even won a medal that he had to show to the people of Peddie to prove he wasn’t making up the story, this was different. I want to say thank you to Judo South Africa and SASPD, Sascoc and everyone who has helped us get here. We are both here to be ambassadors for South Africa and we will be doing our best to bring pride and joy to the country.”
And, to Peddie, obviously. That small town that Ndyebo Lamani is now putting on the world map.
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