news

Aug. 7, 2020

TEBOHO JAFETA

5 min read

A born leader - Moipone Mashale

A born leader - Moipone Mashale

Moipone Mashale

Metro Audio Articles

Catch our weekly audio news daily only on Metro Radio Podcast News.

listen now

MASERU - They say leaders are made not born, but a lot of leadership traits cannot be taught.However, others contend that great leaders are born not made and that could summarise the leadership path of Moipone Mashale who is not only a leader by virtue of being the vice president of the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC).

Mashale is in fact the kind of manager that rose from among the multitudes to the highest echelons of administration both in sports and employment.  administration both in sports and employment.

Her management proficiency has attracted many, not only from Lesotho but even the entire southern African region. Not so long ago, this formidable lady was elected as the president of the Lesotho Netball Association (LNA).

Since then, she has come to be a highly respected sports administrator whose future in the sports fraternity looks quite bright. Mashale, 42, was born and bred in Ha Leqele on the outskirts of Maseru. She is the first born in a family of three girls of the late Motseki and ’Mamoipone Mapolisi. She got married in 2009 to Lisema Mashale and the couple has two children - a boy and a girl.  Her long and enterprising journey as a netballer began at a young age as Standard Five pupil at St James Primary School in Maseru.

In those days, she and her peers played an old fashioned type of netball (commonly known as Nthufe in Sesotho) that was accustomed with a lot of roughness. When she went to high school at ’Mabathooana High School in Maseru in 1991, the modern version of netball had not yet been introduced in Lesotho, so Mashale continued playing the only way she knew how - roughly. Even in those days, her niche to lead still stood out and she played a pivotal role in the school team’s success.

An accident in primary school that left her with a broken arm had forced her to quit the sport, but following a full recovery she soon became a force to be reckoned with on the netball pitch in high school.

After high school, she proceeded to Lerotholi Polytechnic (Fokothi) where she studied for a Diploma in Secretarial Studies. She joined the institution’s netball team where she was introduced to the international and modern type of netball.

“Switching to international netball was not easy at all for me because I was used to the old style of play. I had to now focus on mastering playing in positions, something that I had never bothered about before,” she recalls.

She competed in the 1997 Lesotho University and Colleges Sports Association (LUCSA) Games and was nominated to represent Lesotho at the Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association (CUCSA) Games held in South Africa later that year. During her debut international appearance, her side lost dismally against a stronger and more experienced South African squad.

Enjoy our daily newsletter from today

Access exclusive newsletters, along with previews of new media releases.

After she graduated from Fokothi in 1999, she joined Raiders through invitation by the owner, Refiloe Makoele. Raiders competed in the Lesotho Netball league. In her first season with the team, Mashale only played in friendly games and only started to play competitively in the subsequent season. Her first job after she left college was as a secretary at her old school, ’Mabathoana where she remained until 2001.

“That job opened many doors for me and I will forever be grateful for that,” she says. In 2002, she enrolled at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa for a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources and Administration. She joined the university netball team and became an integral part of the side. She later contested for a seat in the Students Representative Council (SRC) all sports subcommittee and was elected as the secretary general.

She served in that role while also playing for the varsity first netball team until 2004 when she graduated. Serving in that administrative capacity enhanced Mashale’s love for sports administration. When she returned home, she rejoined her old team Raiders as a player. In October 2009, she was elected as the secretary general of the LNA and she retired thereafter as a player.

In 2010, she attended theConfederation of Southern Africa Netball Associations (COSANA) annual general meeting together with the then LNA vice president ’Makhotso Mokoatle.  During that elective meeting, the congress decided to consider youth for the presidency position and Mashale who was at the time aged 32 was elected as COSANA president.

She remained in that position until 2018 when she resigned. In her capacity as president, she recommended a constitutional amendment that elections should be held every four years as that clause did not exist before. As COSANA president, she facilitated the training of four regional umpires comprising Lesotho’s Chakatsa Lephole – the four are now internationally recognized umpires. She also held smooth COSANA regional youth games without any hitches under her leadership. 

She further formed an African netball structure which then only constituted Southern Africa countries but has now grown to include other regions. The year 2010 was the highlight of her sports career as Mashale achieved great milestones in that year.

Besides being elected as a women representative in the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC), she was also elected to the LSRC executive committee as the vice secretary general. When the then president of LNA Limpho Mokhochane became the president of LSRC, Mashale who was at the time the secretary general of LNA was elevated to the presidency to fill Mokhochane’s shoes.

She remained in that capacity for two terms, until 2017 when she did not contest in the elections. As president of LNA, she collaborated with the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and held an event meant to raise awareness on the importance of exercise to pregnant women.

During her reign, accountability was a main priority for LNA executive committee and the committee mastered that quite well, reporting on timely basis how it used the funds provided to the association. She was elected as the LSRC vice president at an elective annual general meeting held in March 2019.

Mashale later went on to further her studies at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) where she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources. She works fulltime as the Human Resources and Administration Manager at the International Centre for Aids Care and Treatment Program (ICAP) Lesotho.

Among others, she acknowledges Mokhochane as her greatest mentor in her journey as a sports administrator. “There is one person whom I want my friends to know that when I walk, speak, engage in discussions, created my career path and ultimately hit the confrontations of the world and brought the best out of me. She has contributed with her whole heart to nurturing me, and that person is Limpho Mokhochane, thank you for never losing hope in me,” she says.

Share the story

METRO WEATHER FORECAST