Para-athletes Sheryl James and Masala Makatu once again made the district proud after being selected to represent South Africa at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Sheryl, a hemiplegic with impaired muscle function on her right side, is classified as a T37 athlete. Masala was left severely visually impaired after an accident in early childhood and is classified as a T12 athlete. Athletes in this classification can choose whether to compete with a guide runner or not. Masala chooses to run without a guide.
Sheryl’s sporting journey has seen her win a bronze medal in the 400m at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, several gold and silver medals at international Grand Prix competitions in the 100m, 200m and 400m events, bronze medals at the 2019 World Championships in Dubai and the 2025 World Championships in India, and compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
During an interview after winning her medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Sheryl was asked whether she was likely to compete at future Paralympic Games. She smiled and said, “I hope so. And I hope I’ll be bringing some athletes from my province along with me.”
Since then, she has worked with athletes in her district and across Limpopo to help them find their own door of opportunity. When SASCOC officially announced Team South Africa on 24 June 2026, it became clear that Sheryl’s words in Tokyo had not been empty promises. She is now taking an athlete from her district and province with her to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Twenty-year-old Masala, whose family lives in Kutama, was a learner at Rivoni School for the Blind when Sheryl first began coaching him. Early in 2025, he was selected for the GAPS Commonwealth Games Programme. The programme not only supports the development of athletes but also assists coaches as they develop their athletes. Sheryl and Masala fit this model and have benefited enormously from GAPS over the past two years.
Masala has since been internationally classified, won a silver medal at the 2025 Dubai Grand Prix, gold medals at the 2026 Toyota SASAPD National Championships and the Cape Winelands Continental Competition in March this year, and a gold medal in the 100m at the Akani Simbine Classic in April.
However, Masala is already looking beyond the 2026 Commonwealth Games to the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics and even further ahead. He has made his ambitions clear, saying that his next goal is for Sheryl to help him qualify for three Paralympic Games. He knows that achieving this goal will require a great deal of hard work, but he is prepared to put on his training shoes and give it his best shot. So is Sheryl.
For now, however, the duo are excited to be travelling to Scotland in mid-July for a GAPS training camp, where they will complete their final preparations before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games officially open on 25 July 2026. Masala will compete in the mixed-class T11/T12 100m event, while Sheryl will compete in the mixed-class T37/T38 100m and 200m events.
Sheryl and Masala are both grateful to everyone involved in the GAPS programme for investing in them as a coach-and-athlete team and for the multifaceted support the programme provides. They added that there are too many people to thank individually for helping make their athletics dream a reality. However, they would like to acknowledge the financial and other support received from organisations and structures such as SASCOC, SASAPD, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, the Summit Africa Foundation, Jumping Kids and the programmes established by Isability Sports Club Limpopo.
As Sheryl has often said, it is by the grace of God that they have found open doors and been blessed with the opportunity to pursue their dreams.