Sinalo Jafta has achieved incredible highs as one of the best cricketers in the world, and what makes her story even more compelling is how she managed to also overcome addiction.
On October 12, 2022, Jafta checked herself into an alcohol rehabilitation facility in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. At the time, the then 27-year-old could have been forgiven for thinking her career with the Proteas women’s team was over.
Fast forward to 2025, and Jafta is coming up on three years sober and has firmly entrenched herself as one of the stalwarts of the South African team.
Since making her debut for South Africa in 2016, Jafta has gone on to earn 95 caps across all three formats as she forms a vital cog of a powerful Proteas lineup.
When asked how she turned her life around, Jafta revealed how she instead saw it as starting a new chapter of her life.
“I don’t see it as success. For me, it’s literally just the 24 hours that is very important to me. And I think when I went
into treatment, that was the one thing that I wasn’t focused on. I was more focused on what I am doing outside of the game,” Jafta told SportsBoom.co.za.
“But then as soon as I got there, they said focus on 24 [hours] and how you see cricket and how you play cricket.
“You literally focus on that day because that’s the most important,” she added.
As any Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous teachings will preach, it’s about living one day at a time.
This is a philosophy that the 30-year-old player sticks to religiously.
“If I think too far ahead, I don’t know whether relapse is coming tomorrow. But if I know that if I’m sorting out what I’m meant to do today, I won’t relapse tomorrow. “It’s more like a domino effect,” she explains further.
“I think if someone told me that it was okay and [if I had] asked for help, I think that’s the biggest thing.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of because your story is not done yet. And I always think of life as chapters. It was just another chapter of my life.
“So, now I’m looking forward to the rest.”
