Staff — Open Play Foundation

Marco Botha

CEO

Marco is a co-founder and CEO of the Open Play Foundation. He has degrees in Sport Science (2007) and Journalism (2008) from Stellenbosch University and a Master's Degree in Management from Harvard University (2023), electing to focus on non-profit leadership and management. He spent eight years at Media24 as a sports writer, editor and publisher. He did consulting projects for Remgro and MyPlayers (South African Rugby Players’ Organisation) before joining MyPlayers as Communications Manager (2020 to 2022). He has written five books: Coach: How South African Sports Leaders Cultivate Excellence (2014), The Barefoot Coach by Paddy Upton (ghostwriter, 2019), 7: My Notes on Leadership & Life by Heyneke Meyer (ghostwriter, 2020), Die Spore van Gert Saggiestrap (novel, 2021), and FAF: Through Fire by Faf du Plessis (ghostwriter, 2022). Marco is married to Maritza, and they have two sons, Stephan and Christiaan.

Our Staff

Thulani Mapoyi

Kayamandi Programmes Coordinator

Thulani is a Kayamandi resident who is passionate about developing his community. He transitioned naturally from a community volunteer to becoming a champion of the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport’s outreach wellness programme. He is the SFC Youth Academy’s under-16 head coach and serves as a founding director of Inkuthazo Yesizwe, a community organisation that works among the youth of Kayamandi. He was also instrumental in identifying Kayamandi Primary as the beneficiary of the Open Play Foundation’s GreenSource project.

José Cabral

SFC Community Wellness Coordinator

José is a Brazilian-born physical educator, sport science lecturer, and football and Futsal head coach. He played professional Futsal for Brazil and the Minas Gerais province from 1982 to 1988 before qualifying as a Level 3 Football and Futsal coach. His family relocated to South Africa in 2007. He has been involved in various educational, coaching, community, and coordinating capacities at the universities of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch. José was the Head of Youth and Wellness at SFC from 2018 to 2022, served as the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport’s Sport and Recreation Coordinator since 2016, and is the Community Wellness Coordinator for the Stellenbosch Football Club. He has an undergraduate degree in physical education and a Master’s degree in sports administration.

Vuyisa Gysman

Operations Coordinator

After initially pursuing a career in mining engineering through the University of Witwatersrand, Vuyisa felt an urge to work with and for people. He did a Licentiate in Theology from Full Gospel Church of God College (2015) before graduating (2022) from Stellenbosch University with a BA degree in Languages and Culture (majoring in Psychology, Biblical Hebrew, and Greek). He is a co-founder and managing director at Care from Jesus Foundation, serves as a social impact overseer at the AFM Campus Ministries at Stellenbosch University, and is a junior pastor at the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (Bethel Mission Centre, Kayamandi branch). Above all, he has a burning passion for community work and development.

Kayamandi Community Coaches

Our Kayamandi Community Coaches are all residents of Kayamandi and ensure that the four public schools have access to quality coaching, mentors and role models. They purposefully activate Open Play’s facilities in partnership with the beneficiary schools and also provide their services where and as the need for it arises. The programme is supported by the Greater Stellenbosch Trust and forms part of the Citizen Connect social employment initiative.