By Nkhensani Mthombeni
• Beka Ntsanwisi started Vakhegula Vakhegula more than 18 years ago after seeing how playing football improved the health of elderly women.
• Women aged 50 and older from countries including France, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and the United States compete in her international football tournament.
A group of grannies kicking a football around in Nkowankowa has grown into an international movement bringing older women together from across the world.
And behind it all is Limpopo philanthropist and former radio presenter Beka Ntsanwisi.
Ntsanwisi, who was born and raised in Nkowankowa outside Tzaneen, is the founder of the Grannies International Football Tournament.
The tournament, known as GIFT, brings together women aged 50 and older to play football while staying active and building friendships across borders.
Teams from countries including France, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and the United States have been part of the sporting event.
The tournament takes place every two years.
Its third edition is planned for June next year, with Ntsanwisi saying more countries have already confirmed that they want to take part.
But the international tournament started with a much smaller idea more than 18 years ago.
Ntsanwisi was working with a home based care project for elderly people when she introduced football as an activity.
She noticed that getting the women onto the field and moving around appeared to improve their health and fitness.
That experience led her to establish Vakhegula Vakhegula, her first grannies football team in Nkowankowa.
The idea kept growing.
Today, there are more than 20 teams under Vakhegula Vakhegula in South Africa and other parts of the world.
The movement has reached Mauritius, Mozambique, Ghana, Togo, France and the United States.
In March, Ntsanwisi travelled to Ghana and Togo after she was invited to officially launch grannies teams there.
She was also honoured in the two countries for her contribution to women’s football.
Her international journey continued in July when she travelled to France.
There, she met a sports federation, the coach of an under 17 girls football team and members of a French grannies team.
For Ntsanwisi, football is only one part of a much bigger passion for helping people.
During her time as a presenter at Munghana Lonene FM, she helped people from struggling families in different ways.
She has helped build houses and assisted students with university fees.
More recently, she helped a young Limpopo man who needed an intestine transplant in India to connect with specialists who could assist him.
Her work with elderly footballers has also travelled beyond the pitch.
A book titled Grannies Grannies has been published in the United States and South Africa.
It has also reached Japan, where it was translated into Japanese.
The grannies have also completed a documentary titled Vakhegula Vakhegula, which was filmed in Nkowankowa.
Ntsanwisi said her journey shows women that a lack of money should not automatically kill a good idea.
“If I was afraid to start GIFT because I had no money to fund the whole event, we would have never had the world cup,” she said.
“But because I was courageous to go ahead with it even despite funding, we now pride ourselves with the event.”
Her message to women is to stop allowing fear to stand between them and their dreams.
Ntsanwisi is now calling on businesses to support the grannies teams and help fund the next Grannies International Football Tournament.
What started with elderly women playing football in a Limpopo township has now connected grannies from different countries.
And with another international tournament coming next year, Ntsanwisi wants to keep proving that getting older does not mean giving up on fitness, friendship or big dreams.
Pictured above: Beka Ntsanwisi, founder of the Grannies International Football Tournament and Vakhegula Vakhegula football movement.
Image source: Supplied.
