'To see people you profile make it makes me happy' - Msimango reflects on KZN Sports Journalist of the year award

For most of South Africa’s most well-known and celebrated sports journalists, their success has been achieved while working for one of the country’s major media houses. That’s where Thathezakho Msimango is different. At just thirty years old the man who hails from the small South Coast town of uMzinto has amassed almost a decade of experience working exclusively as a freelancer. His contribution to sport through storytelling was thrust into the spotlight this week after he was named as the province’s sports journalist of the year at the KZN Sports Awards.

"Since I started journalism, I have been a freelancer and to earn opportunities to contribute in different publications means a lot to me. So I'm very thankful to those people who are affording me that chance to prove myself and my writing skills. I'm very grateful to earn the this special award for the first time in my career," he told #TheTopRunner after taking the award on Saturday 2 November.

What makes Msimango’s victory all the more special is that the award went to a journalist whose focus tends to be more on the Cinderella sports. In a nation where football, cricket and rugby reign supreme, the man who got his first big break working as a sports analyst under Skhumbuzo Mkhize at Inanda FM, has chosen to shine the spotlight on athletics, trail running and para-sports. Msimango who has also supplied content to the likes of Modern Athlete and Kaya FM, says a good story is a good story regardless of the discipline adding that helping an up and coming athlete in a lesser known sport to gain recognition gives him immense joy.

"I had wanted to participate on the playing field but I failed. So I chose to contribute largely by telling inspiring stories of sports people. To see people you profile make it in future makes me happy. My love for telling inspiring stories is what made me fall in love with journalism. I believe this career chose me because from my parents used to tell me that even from a young age I was good at narrating stories."

His portfolio of work submitted to the KZN Sports Awards which earned him the crown as the province’s foremost sports scribe included a refreshingly honest story on discus thrower Victor Hogan’s comeback after serving a doping ban as well as a stroll down memory lane with 2005 Comrades Marathon champion Sipho Ngomane. Msimango dedicated his victory to youngsters like himself from the rural areas of the country, saying this honour is evidence that all things are possible.

"This award goes to upcoming journalists like me to never give up on searching for a better life. I believe there are still chances to make this career better even though many believe it’s dying. With these words, I think many will be motivated to never give up in life. In ten years' time, I see myself as one of the leading athletics journalists in the country having covered big events such as the World Championship and the Olympic Games."