Whether 'tis fear....

 

The impressive Matthew Raubach (Capt.) of the Protea Esports Team for the DotA 2 esports title.

On Saturday, 7 February 2026, South Africa was drawn against both Botswana and Zambia in the Reqional Qualifiers for Global Esports Federation's (GEF) GEG25 World Finals to be held in Mumbai, India, from 26 February to 1 March 2026.

Unfortunately neither team pitched at the allotted time and the South African Protea Esports Team for the DotA 2 esports title were credited with the wins.

No-one is ever happy to  take a win this way - especially when South Africa has such a strong team, but maybe that's why they didn't show....

Today, Sunday, 8 February 2026, the team, clad in battle gear are ready for their two opponents being Namibia at 16H00 and Malawi at 21H00.

The Protea DotA2 Esports Team is as follows:

Title	Name	Club	Nick	Province
DotA 2	Matthew Raubach (Capt.)	ZAG Academy	bee	Gauteng
	Callum Foster	ZAG Academy	sk3p	Western Cape
	Lennard Koekemoer	ZAG Academy	remedy	Gauteng
	Berend van Staden	ZAG Academy	Berend	Gauteng
	Suhail Khan	ZAG Academy	Soup	Gauteng
Manager	Johan van Breda	ZAG Academy	-	Gauteng

Additional reading:

• 2026 Calendar of events
• AEC24 - Champions of all of Africa - Protea Female Counter Strike 2 Esports Team wins AEC24
• AEC24 - Forged in battle - a Counter Strike story...
• AEC24 - Thato Maredi outperforms Bafana Bafana!
  
• ACES - Avenging Bafana
• ACES - Thato advances to the knock-out stages!
• Affiliation: Private Clubs
• Affiliation - Procedure to be followed by school clubs affiliating for the 2026 season.
• Clubs - Newly-affiliated Backgammon clubs are ready to get things rolling…
• Events - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
• GEF - Clash Royale esports athletes may win a trip to Mumbai....
  
• GEF - Even Titans fall!
• GEF - Protea DotA 2 Team to represent South Africa in GEG25 qualifiers - Saturday, 7 February 2026
• GEF - Whether 'tis fear....
• GEF - Zaid Williams to represent South Africa in Clash Royale - Saturday, 7 February 2026
• National Team Trials - Who qualifies for MSSA National Team Trials?
  
• Results - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships - 24 January 2026.
• Sportsmanship Award - Sportsmanship Award - Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships
• Streaming - Streaming of MSSA's Northern Cape Online Championships for the MLBB esports title.

Athlete's rights:

• Is a professional gamer in South Africa entitled to a salary?
• Professional esports athletes must register for tax.

Employment opportunities

• #TuksSport is looking for a Deputy Director: Sports Operations Management 

Bitter for having missed out?

Nathan Anderson - Western Cape StarCraft Champion

The MWEB sponsored 2015 Western Cape Championships proved just what the MSSA is all about. The joy and happiness exhibited by all the gamers at the event proved just what a good job the MSSA is doing.

The short answer, of course, is that the MSSA is all about accrediting people and promoting the growth of gaming on an unprecedented level in South Africa.

There are those, however, that claim all sorts of fiction about the MSSA. Such fictions include that the MSSA has not chosen the best teams for E-FRAG and the IeSF World Championships.

Let us unpack these erroneous claims.

First it should be noted that only gamers affiliated to the MSSA may participate in MSSA events. Thus it stands to reason, based on logic, that the MSSA will (like all other national sport federations) only ever select gamers who are so affiliated to officially represent South Africa.

So why then do gamers not participate in the MSSA events?

Clearly this is not true across the board as the MSSA boasts of having the best StarCraft, FIFA, Hearthstone, etc. players participating in their events.

The only reasons why people refuse to participate in MSSA events can be chalked up to:

1. FEAR: Gamers, although brash behind their keyboards at home, are generally afraid to play in LAN championships where they will be seen by other gamers and will be held accountability for what they say and do.
2. UNWILLING TO ABIDE BY RULES: Those gamers who continually refuse to play in LAN championships are afraid to play by anyone else's rules in case they do not do well. Those that refuse to play in LANs are those who always cite some online leagues rules even though such rules have no bearing or weight in the competition in question.
3. BEING NOT COMPETITIVE IN NATURE: A lot of gamers that refuse to participate in MSSA events are just not competitive. Such gamers are unable to adapt to new and/or different rules and are thus doomed to continue making the same mistakes over-and-over again.Such players find it difficult to learn the rules of the competition and then whinge and whine about their results blaming everyone else but themselves for their performance.
4. TOO MUCH EGO: Many gamers have so much ego that they cannot see the 'big' picture. Instead they think that everything revolves around themselves and that they should be treated as 'special'. Well there is a life-lesson here, no-one is indispensable, and that a gamer is only as good as their last game. That is why the MSSA runs annual team trials in a transparent manner. No-one is just picked on whimsy or through any other form of bias as continually requested by 'community leaders'. All team members have earned their place in trials and all teams selected are the best possible teamsat such trials.
5. SELF-APPOINTED COMMUNITY LEADERS: There is always reference to the community by a small group of about 10 gamers. These 10 or so gamers also claim the be 'community leaders', but are they? Who voted them in, to whom are they responsible? Do they report to anyone or are they really just tyrants who are rabble rousing the masses in a bid to get their own ulterior motives enforced? What are their ulterior motives, do such only benefit the 'community leaders' or do such motives fall in line with a greater vision? If such a greater vision exists, it has never been expressed anywhere! All that has been expressed is condemnation, bile and bitterness....
6. UNWILLINGNESS TO TRANSFORM: The MSSA is committed to transforming gaming in South Africa. To exclude women is to exclude half of South africa's population, and to not promote demographic diversity is to exclude 80% of South Africa's population. Yet the critics who whinge and whine about the MSSA do not even attempt to transform South African gaming. Instead such gamers palm it off as being some-one else's responsibility. 
7. UNWILLINGNESS TO COMPLY TO THE LAW: A gamer has claimed, "There is no requirement for MSSA to exist". Obviously such gamer has not read the Sport and Recreation Act. An Act of Parliament. However, this seems to be a common thread among the 'community leaders'...that is, "I am a gamer, and the law does not apply to me!". We are all South Africans, the law does apply to all equally.

 To put it bluntly, the MSSA will be around for many decades to come. The MSSA will continue to produce national teams and do great development at school level. It is at school level that the MSSA will find its Protea Teams that will officially represent South Africa in international competition and which will help South Africa become competitive on an international stage.

About this blog

There seems to be a little controversy around this blog.

That is really quite strange as nothing that has been printed here is at all controversial nor in any way is defamatory or indulges in hate speech.

There too seems to be the belief that there is one person who submits articles to this site.

That is not true!

There are a group of individuals who write articles about gaming and put them here.

The use of this site is to allow people to have their say without fear of intimidation or victimization by individuals and/or other blogs.

This site provides a safe environment for gamers who want to express different opinions and not be 'trolled'.

The use of pseudonyms, and the importance thereof was also touched on in the article 'Gulliver's Travels'. In fact when you consider that everybody in gaming has a nick, why then is it strange if someone else uses one to.

Think about it….

Fear in South African gaming

Over the past few weeks there has laughably been a fairly vitriolic criticism of the

MSSA and the awarding of both female and male gamers medals and of choosing males and females for its national teams.

Of course most of the MSSA's critics quickly ignore the fact that the choice of game titles for the 6^th World Championships Baku, as well as who may, and for that matter, who may not, play is decided upon not by the MSSA, but by the IeSF.

Apart from a small minority of female gamers who have expressed their apparent unhappiness over the division of the team along gender lines, the majority of criticism has come from very vocal male gamers. A number of these gamers have stated that they speak for the female gamers (I wonder if they really do), and have made their point that female and male leagues are not to be tolerated!

My friends and I have read much of what has been written on the subject.

It is interesting to see that most of the top female games in international competition, acknowledge the female only leagues as a reason for their success.

But why are male gamers so anti having female gamers play their own leagues?

A number of theories could be put forward, but it is thought that the main reasons could really be:

1. That male gamers are afraid that a more nurturing environment for female gamers will fast-track female gamers so that they can rival male gamers, and
   
2. That male gamers are afraid that if female gamers do have their own leagues and competitions, that the prize money pool will be halved to accommodate female gamers.

Both the above are based on fear, and with fear being one of the most basic of human emotions, it is no wonder why most of the gamers are so subjective on this matter.

It again comes down to seeing the big picture. What do you really want to get out of eSports?

If you feel that eSports is something that you must control, that eSports owes you a living, or that you are entitled to prize money, then you will experience anxiety when new ideas are expressed or when new projects are put into place. It is this feeling of lack of control that makes the subject so emotive among those who are outside of the decision making arena.

However, if you are one of themany that are looking at the big picture of where eSports can go, what eSports can do for those who play, or of the opportunities that eSports can create, then you will realise that the policy of having separate championships for males and females has much to offer.

Let us look at it from a South African point of view. Mixed gaming delivers one winner, one second place, and one third place. On the other hand, separating the competition delivers two winners, two second places, and two third places. This means that you are rewarding twice as many people and you are creating an environment that is far more conducive to growth and development.

Not only that, but if the MSSA awards Protea Colours to one team, then only that team will be able to apply for a sports bursary should the team members go to university. However, should a female team and a male team be awarded Protea Colours, then twice the number of gamers are able to apply for sports bursaries.

Who in their right mind would not want to see as many people as possible benefit from eSports?

Surely only gamers who want to privatise gaming for their own nefarious purposes would be opposed to seeing as many people as possible benefit?

Yes, eSports is still in its early stages of development. Total equality cannot be achieved immediately as financial considerations will always have a bearing on all decisions made, but the process has started.

The process will gain momentum from year-to-year.

One only has to look at how few females participated in the 2012 IeSF World Championships, as compared to the increase in numbers (and standard) at the 2013 IeSF World Championships.

Of course, gaming may even end up like a sport like tennis where there are female, male, and mixed events! Only time will tell.

At the end of the day, every person has the right of freedom of association.

Therefore those who want to be associated to a progressive process can be. Those who do not want to associate to a progressive process can leave it alone.

However, all people deserve to be respected for their own choices, so those who do not agree should show a modicum of courtesy and refrain from harassing those that are making eSports a better place for all.

(Picture taken from the MSSA's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa)