MARK ETHERIDGE: You can mock me, you can tease me, but still like air I’ll rise

Teased as a child, KwaZulu-Natal’s Similo Dlamini has gone on to make her mark in sport and business. Turning 40 this year, she still has a childlike enthusiasm for life.

KwaMashu-born Dlamini has a congenital condition known as Proximal Focal Femoral Deficiency (PFFD), meaning her right leg is shorter than the left and she needs the assistance of a prosthetic leg. Has that stopped her living life to the fullest? Hell, no!

Earlier this month she completed her fourth aQuelle Midmar Mile, the gruelling annual swim in her home province and she has a best time of just over 44min for the open-water swim.

But that’s not all. “I loved swimming at school and found it the easiest sport for me as a differently-abled person,” she says. “But I also always wanted to surf — I just love the ocean — so I got in touch with a local NPC [non-profit company] called Made for More and they helped me with my first adaptive surfing lesson.

“After one session I was hooked — it was simply a dream come true. I mean, here was this black, differently-abled person from KwaMashu learning to surf and having the time of my life.”

She went on to win the provincial and national kneel division — and before she knew it was winging her way to California for the world championship where she was afforded the honour of being sand-bearer (where each country brings a sand sample from their own beaches to the championship) for Team SA last year.

“California was amazing — it was my first visit to America. So Made for More helped me realise a dream. The travelling opened up my world. There I was competing against the very best, and what’s brilliant is that I’ve become friends with some of the professional adaptive surfers.

“They were all so willing to share their knowledge, especially Victoria Fiege, who is Canadian but based in Hawaii ... she was just so kind. It was a great growth experience.”

It wasn’t always a bed of roses for Dlamini. Before she blossomed, she was bossed around from an early age. “Kids can be the worst. When I was young, I was teased so badly I was forced to become very thick-skinned early in life. Back in those days, prosthetic limbs weren’t that easy on the eye and stood out.

“I was also quite small, but I used to have this steel contraption and if the kids picked on me, I used to kick the worst offenders with it and soon they didn’t mess with me.”

She gives huge credit to her parents. “They never put me in a box and didn’t mollycoddle me. My dad was very active, so that’s one of the reasons I tried different sports.”

She jokes about her full name, Similonhle (which stands for a person of good character and integrity). “My name is more often than not a boy’s name and, with me also having quite a deep voice, we used to joke that my dad probably wanted a boy to raise.”

Her father, Muntu, passed away 10 years ago but she still has her mom, Thembi, for support.

“She’s one of the most beautiful people I know, and just the most amazing being. Both my parents gave me such confidence. She worked overseas in London for around five years but she’s now with the department of higher education here in Pinetown. She used to love ballroom dancing — that’s another thing I’d really like to be able to do,” she muses.

Education is a vital part of Dlamini’s dedication. She is a qualified accountant with Transnet and has just finished writing exams towards her postgraduate diploma in business administration with Wits University.

She is also wants to use her experience to get the younger generation into the water.

“The KwaZulu-Natal sports department has a programme which is starting to take swimming into the townships. But, so often, the challenge is simply getting differently-abled people to the pools. Being in a wheelchair means taxis don’t often like to stop because they take time to get the person into the vehicle, and then the size of the wheelchair means less space for paying passengers.

“Ideally, I would love to have access to a large minibus-type vehicle and get people to the pools and the beach.

“We live in a province right next to the sea and yet so many people have never even set foot on the beach. Once we can get people to the beach I’m sure groups like Made for More will be able to help.”

She will reach her 40-year milestone later this year, but that’s not holding her back.

“I met two lovely ladies, both in their 70s, at this year’s Midmar Mile, so I plan to do many, many more Midmar Miles. Then there’s the national adaptive surfing championships coming up in Muizenberg, Cape Town, where I’ll be aiming to hopefully defend my title and get to another world championship.” 

First it was California Dreamin’ for Dlamini ... now she’s shifting her sights to this year’s world championship, which at this stage could well be heading back to the same venue of Pismo.