Khanya Mthembu

Khanya started surfing on a board his uncle pulled out of a skip behind the Spar in Hibberdene. It was a 7'2" mini-mal with the nose broken off, and he rode it for two years before anyone told him surfboards came in other shapes.

He surfs Umzumbe Point most mornings before school — a left-hand point break that wraps around the headland when the south swell is in. On a clean day the lineup empties around 7am as everyone paddles in to get to work. Khanya stays out.

In December he qualified for the J-Bay Junior Pro on the back of a third place at the KZN Provincial U18 — his first real contest result. The qualification is the easy part. Getting to J-Bay, paying the entry, paying for accommodation, paying for a coach to read heats with him — that is what stops most kids in his position from ever showing up.

“I am not asking anyone to feel sorry for me. I am asking for a board.”

Umzumbe Surf Club is raising the trip cost. R45,000 covers flights, ten nights of accommodation, the entry fee, his coach Sipho's costs, a backup board if the primary breaks, and a small contingency for waxing and food. Every rand donated is rand-for-rand transferred to a ringfenced account in his name. Whatever is raised over the goal stays in his equipment fund.

He needs to be there on the 14th. He is ready.