Cape Town – Condolences continued to pour in on Saturday following the death of former South African Olympian and women’s sports activist Cheryl Roberts on Friday morning.
Roberts represented South Africa in Barcelona at the 1992 Summer Olympics in table tennis.
She has been described as a woman who contributed immensely to SA sports and fought for the representation of women across various disciplines.
Cheryl died at the age of 60, News24. reported.
Her sister, Sharon, confirmed the death and said that Cheryl has diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, the report said.
“She was fighting. She was undergoing her treatment and she was coming through.
“In the last couple of months, it was progressing and getting worse. When we got the authorisations for the treatment, the cancer was getting worse. We last spoke to her yesterday, but we could see that her strength was fading,” the report quoted Sharon as saying.
Despite her illness, Cheryl was still passionate about women in sports and remained vocal about transformation and women’s sports.
Her last social media posts were flooded with her reflection as Springbok Women made a return to Women’s Rugby World Cup after an eight year absence.
Joe Carrim, the president of the South African Table Tennis Board, said Roberts was a “gender activist until the time of her passing”.
“A true champion of non-racial sport. Former SA national Table Tennis Champion, and Olympian (1992 Olympics). Championing and fighting for the rights of women in sport. Former National Executive Member of the NSC. A gender activist until the time of her passing and will be sorely missed,” Carrim wrote on Facebook.
SA Rugby president Mark Alexander took to his Twitter timeline and said that Roberts was “a champion of equal opportunities and an activist of SA women in sport.
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of Cheryl Roberts, a staunch supporter of women’s sport, a champion of equal opportunities, and an activist for women on the SA sporting landscape.”
?? “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Cheryl Roberts, a staunch supporter of women’s sport, a champion of equal opportunities, and an activist for women on the SA sporting landscape. May she rest in peace, our thoughts are with her family” – Mark Alexander, SARU President pic.twitter.com/4UfOddFwj1
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 7, 2022
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