Cape Town – Springboks winger Sbu Nkosi’s situation has reportedly raised alarm bells among the sporting industry in South Africa.
Nkosi had been missing for three weeks and had his SA club side team, Bulls concerned following numerous failed attempts to contact him since November 11.
He was found on Monday at the home of his father in Mpumalanga and had spoken to the chief executive of the club, Edgar Rathbone.
Rathbone alleged that although there were a number of support structures in SA rugby, Nkosi’s situation was a “wake-up call for everybody in the sport again”, reported IOL.
Rathbone said that Nkosi had consulted Bulls team psychologist Henning Gericke earlier this year after finding it difficult in the capital city but was still struggling.
He said Bulls were giving Nkosi the necessary time and space, and had not placed a timeline on his return to the field, adding that the 26-year-old was free to join another team if that’s what he needed.
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“The adjustment, we tried to help him through that – the fact of the matter is that he battled with that.
“But at the end of the day, we as men don’t really say how badly it is going with us. That’s a lesson we can learn: that it is Okay to say you are not Okay.
He called on the sporting industry to relook its mental health interventions and finds ways to improve.
A News24 report said that Springbok prop Ox Nche says he was shocked to hear of Nkosi’s mental health struggles.
Nche saoid that Nkosi’s battles highlighted the need for sport stars to regularly check up on each other.
“Sbu is a smart guy. He works hard and he knows what he has to do.
“And our jobs are not easy. Me and him, we have an understanding [as] colleagues and we get along off the field too. I think we are pretty good with each other.
“It came as a shock… I didn’t expect it but that is the thing about mental health, you don’t see it coming,” the report quoted Nche as saying.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
