Enos Mafokate, South Africa's First Black Showjumper, Dies at 80

By Elena Vasquez

Enos Mafokate, who became South Africa's first Black showjumper in 1975 and founded the world's only township-based equestrian centre, died in Johannesburg in September 2026 at the age of 80. His Soweto Equestrian Centre, established in 2006 as a non-profit, continues to teach young Black riders in the country's largest township.

Mafokate's career began at the bottom of a sport historically dominated by the white elite and shaped by its colonial reign. He started as a stable hand and rose to world-class level during the apartheid era. As a child, he faced the threat of arrest after being caught riding a white man's horse. In a sport that demanded wealth and excluded Black athletes, competing professionally once seemed out of the question because of the colour of his skin.

Despite racial tension and oppressive segregation laws, Mafokate cleared the hurdles. In 1975 he made history as the nation's first Black showjumper, representing South Africa in a red coat. After apartheid was dismantled, he attended the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona as a sports ambassador for South Africa, breaking down barriers and stereotypes as he cleared each obstacle.

What does the Soweto Equestrian Centre do?

Mafokate founded the centre in 2006 with two aims: improving the welfare of people in Soweto and opening the elite world of horse riding to those who cannot afford access. It has become a pillar of the community and remains the only equestrian centre based in a township anywhere in the world.

The school is free. That matters in a country where more than 40% of workers are paid less than £150 a month — roughly the cost of a single month's fees at many riding establishments elsewhere. Young riders pay their dues instead by helping care for the centre's 20 horses.

The centre welcomes all ages and urges young Black children to embark on a journey often inaccessible to Black communities in South Africa. Decolonising Black communities' relationship to horses is a vital lesson shared there: in Soweto, horses are a symbol of labour, reduced to haulers, and the lack of exposure beyond those historical roles perpetuates exclusion from equestrian sport.

Why did the barriers persist?

Asked what obstacles Black riders in South Africa face, Mafokate said it came down to culture and cost. The exorbitant fees students must pay to participate run parallel with South Africa's racial inequality, and the elite sport of equestrian riding requires wealth that developing communities do not have.

Racism did not end with apartheid. Mafokate continued to face racially charged microaggressions — and in some cases blatant racism within the equestrian milieu — as he got older. At a competition in 2017, a security guard approached him and asked him to show proof of ownership of the horse he was loading into his trailer.

The numbers frame the wider problem. In 2024, South Africa commemorated 30 years of democracy, yet the official unemployment rate stands at 33% — among the highest in the world — and many young graduates are jobless or working menial jobs. During apartheid, South Africa was barred from international competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup because of its refusal to desegregate teams. How much a sport has diversified is often an indicator of a nation's political progress.

For many South Africans, participation in sport remains an explicitly political act. Systematic oppression of Black communities is still common, especially within sport.

What is Mafokate's legacy?

Mafokate demonstrated a life of overcoming adversity, from stable hand to national athlete to community teacher. The impact of his free school on the Black youth of Soweto has been immense, allowing young riders to realise their dreams of competing in a historically colonial sport.

His legacy, and his horse-riding school, lives on through the generations he inspired — with 20 horses and an open gate in a township the sport once ignored.