When running one’s finger down the list of more than 200 athletes and 18 codes representing Team SA at the African Games in Ghana, it quickly stops at the letter “B”. Badminton, following Arm Wrestling and Athletics in the alphabet. And then, scrolling down that list of players you come across Johanita Scholtz.
“You can call me Nita,” says the defending women’s singles champion from Morocco in 2019. She was the only gold medallist from badminton at those African Games and knows she has a target on her back in Accra.
“I embrace the challenge,” she says as we’re travelling on the bus to the athletes’ village, which is at the University Of Ghana. “I react well to pressure and I’ve had a good last year. Hopefully it gets even better and I qualify for the Paris Olympics.”
Going into these Games, with the badminton programme starting on Monday, Scholtz is ranked No3 in Africa and arrives in hot form following her display recently in Uganda. Hot is the operative word – temperatures are humid and muggy and hardly waver from that whether it’s day or night.
“Uganda was very similar to what we’re experiencing in Accra. So, I am quite acclimatised, but one needs to rehydrate a lot.” During training in the last couple of days she has been drinking between three-and-four litres of water while at practice. I remind her that there’s always the option of an ice bath. “Yes, the physios have one and I’m sure I’ll be in it quite soon. But it’s something you never get used to!”
Scholtz was born in Cape Town in 2000 and her parents moved to Namibia shortly after that. That’s when the badminton bug bit. “My family is quite sporty and my mom was a good squash player. There was a badminton court next to the squash court and I went to have a look and then gave it a try. I used to swim as a kid, but badminton is where I have achieved the most.”
Ghana is the 20th country to be ticked off as a country visited as her passport starts to run out of pages. “I keep a book of all my performances and players that I’ve come up against and also document the countries I’ve been to. So, this is the 20th!”
And in terms of travelling, it’s always the African ones which hold most appeal for her. “I enjoy nature and animals and there’s so much diversity across Africa. Europe has more architecture and buildings. I also really enjoy the different cultures and people that are on our continent.”
While in Accra she is hoping to pay a visit to a market or mall. “I always buy souvenirs when I travel and I’m a fashion designer so obviously I enjoy the different fabrics and styles of clothing in Africa. Ghana is known for its fabrics, so I’ll definitely be buying something.”
The Bloemfontein-based 24-year-old is hoping to own her own fashion business in the future. That particular bug bit when she designed her own Matric dress. She’s a product of the Bloemfontein Fashion Academy and is making aficianodos sit up and take notice of her talents. These days she’s grown into an art design teacher and she also always busy designing wedding dresses. Except her own, which she says she didn’t want to see too much of ahead of her big day.
“I take great pride in my work and I can also handle the pressure that comes with designing the perfect wedding dress. If I have a three-day deadline I am able to meet it. I am a creative person.”
The five-time national singles champion also has a diverse taste in music. “It’s part of my pre-match routine,” she says. “And it all depends on my mood. If I’m too hyped then I listen to something that calms me down, and vice versa. I genuinely like all kinds of music, from heavy metal to jazz and everything between.”
We have reached our destination and Scholtz lifts up a heavy bag of hers. There are bottles, and bottles of water in it. It’s another suffocating day here and she will be practising in a couple of hours again.
For once she doesn’t have to rely on her weather app, which is the most used app on her iPhone. “South Africa can often have four seasons in a day, so I’m always checking that app. I don’t like going out and getting too cold, or wear the wrong clothes.”
However, in Ghana she won’t be needing to check the conditions. It’s oppressively hot around the clock.
Photo: Roger Sedres in Accra