The Springbok Women's team has partnered with Project Flamingo, backed by Engen SA, to launch 'Make Room for Her' — a campaign linking women's sport advocacy with breast health awareness and action.
The campaign centres on a three-step call to action — Touch, Pause, Engage — urging women to check their breasts monthly, note any changes, and consult a healthcare professional or nearest clinic.
To mark the launch, players Babalwa Latsha, Nadine Roos, Insaaf Levy and Chumisa Qawe, along with international referee Aimee Barrett-Theron, visited the breast clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, where they met Project Flamingo founder and CEO Dr Liana Roodt and the clinic's multi-disciplinary care team.
Dr Roodt framed the initiative as systemic rather than symbolic. "Our women need systems that respond when they speak, pathways that work when they ask for help, and the confidence to claim the space that was theirs all along," she said. "Change will not come from talking about it, but rather from building it — from the inside out."
SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer confirmed the campaign originated within the Springbok Women's squad. "We know that our valued Springbok Women have had to earn their own room in South African sport, and that their journey has not always been an easy one," he said. "Together, this partnership makes the same case twice over — that women deserve to be seen, heard and given the opportunity to thrive."
Project Flamingo, founded in 2010, operates within the public healthcare system alongside state hospitals and volunteer specialists to reduce delays in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. The organisation has spent 16 years addressing bottlenecks across surgery, diagnostics, patient support and system strengthening.
Engen CEO George Roberts said the company's involvement went beyond awareness. "Making room for women and fuelling their fight means more than raising awareness — it means supporting action that creates meaningful change."
Dr Roodt added that this October she would wear black "not as a symbol of despair but as an act of reflection and of grief, to mourn the preventable suffering we have allowed to become normal."