“In the township, you must have a good parent who is very strict. A parent who will teach you to go to church. If you miss that, you won’t survive. Because you will end up in the streets you must have trust in God. That’s what keeps me going. I’ve been praying for this for so many years. I’ve seen this child. He has a passion for cricket. He has given me respect. I have told him to go to church. You always make sure that he wants a better life,” she explains.
Initially, Nqobani did his schooling at Phoenix, which is where the family could afford at the time. Even then, he did not have money for lunch, but Nqobani never gave up. His mother switched jobs, tried to support him as much as she could but that change in life came through Khalipha Cele, a former KwaZulu-Natal (Natal) cricketer. Cele saw the potential in Nqobani and took him to Northwood School, where he was offered a full sports scholarship.
“I think for his age,” Nantie Hayward, director of cricket at Northwood, tells this daily, “he was just a little bit faster than the normal kids. We always knew that Mokoena got something special with him and he can bat as well as an all-rounder. He was a raw, quiet kind of person. He doesn’t really say a lot. He would just sit and listen. But as he got used to us, the school environment and the coaches, he started opening up and just became the Mokoena we all know,” the former SA pacer adds.
Initially, it took some convincing from the school, but Hayward vowed to do everything he could for the teenager. “For us, it’s important to walk that road when we give the kids the opportunity to come to our schools… My kids come first. So, whatever they need, if there’s any need for a new cricket bat, equipment or anything, that’s always been my part of where I will always try to look after those kids,” he explains.
Once Nqobani settled in Northwood, there was no looking back. Steadily he rose through the ranks, got selected for South Africa U19 in the 2024 World Cup, and then a Dolphins contract came along. Before the ongoing SA20 season, Nqobani had played only six senior T20Is, as many List-A games and two first-class matches. However, Royals saw the potential in him. The U23 clause helped (a team should have at least two U23 players) and they signed him at the auction for 200000 ZAR. One could sense the excitement in Princess’ voice when asked about watching Nqobani on TV. “Every match that he plays, we have a family prayer,” she says. “We make noise, scream, bang the doors and everything.”