‘It’s heartbreaking to see Tsolekile now’ - Temba Bavuma

While commenting on the South African international cricketer, Thami Tsolekile, who was caught in the 2015 Ram Slam match-fixing scandal, the current Proteas white-ball captain Temba Bavuma has called that the former Test player should come out and share his match-fixing experiences.

Tsolekile was handed a 12-year ban from the game when he was suspended alongside Gulam Bodi (mastermind of that scandal), Ethy Mbhalati, Pumelela Matshikwe, Jean Symes, Alviro Petersen, and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Bavuma believes that Tsolekile should talk about his match-fixing experiences at the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings to help prevent others from making the same mistake. 

However, Tsolekile opted not to do so.

Bavuma and Tsolekile grew up together in Langa, Cape Town and then reconnected on Freedom Day when they participated in the Run4Freedom race.

Sharing his thoughts about the unfortunate scandal, the 31-year-old batter said on Sport24, “Thami knows what he did wasn’t in the spirit of the game, and he regrets it every single day.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the person that he is now, and whenever I’m in Langa, I try to meet up with Thami. I like to check in with the guy and make sure that he’s still here. He obviously has it tough at the moment with few opportunities coming his way.”

Bavuma further claimed that Tsolekile’s story has a lot that he could share with people within the game. 

“Through his own experiences, he can still educate and bring awareness so that they also don’t find themselves in that situation.

“It’s sad to witness his state of affairs - cricket is his life and all he knows - but to me, he’s still Thami. Being the inspirational figure that he is in Langa, the people and community at large still love him in spite of all the negativity that surrounds his name,” Bavuma concluded.