No SA pro boxer will fight for less than R20,000 — McKenzie

From next year, no South African professional boxer will be “exploited” and fight for purse money of less than R20,000.

The undertaking was made on Wednesday by sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie, while addressing a packed Orient Theatre in KuGompo City, where hundreds of people gathered for boxing hero Zolani “Last Born” Tete’s memorial service.

Tete, a former two-time world champion, was gunned down outside his home in Mdantsane on Friday night in an attack that made international headlines.

Four suspects have been arrested so far.

McKenzie said he was heartbroken when he heard that there were professional boxers who fought for purse money of R4,000, saying this would be a thing of the past from April 2027.

Because of the punishment boxers inflicted on each other in the ring and the hard work they put in before fights, no boxer deserved to be paid so little, he said.

McKenzie told mourners that when his department’s budget was allocated for the new financial year in April, he would set aside money to enable Boxing South Africa (BSA) to ensure boxers were paid properly.

The sports department had also set aside R10m for the Steve Tshwete boxing tournament that will take place for the first time in KuGompo City in December.

“I have also already paid an amount of R300,000 for female boxers that would be participating in [the] tournament,” he said to loud applause.

McKenzie told Tete’s family that he would ensure the boxer was honoured posthumously at the next SA sports awards through a legends special award, which would come with prize money of R100,000.

“I hate honouring people with just certificates. I believe that there should also be money involved.

“Boxing has entered a new era under Gayton McKenzie. The financial struggle faced by our boxers will be a thing of the past.

“I can assure you that we are returning to the glory days of boxing. We will make boxing great again,” he said.

McKenzie also promised that a law allowing boxers to continue fighting beyond the age of 35 would be gazetted before year-end.

Tete, 38, a former two-division world champion, had been set to make a comeback in November after serving a four-year doping ban.

However, a BSA regulation that did not allow boxers his age to get into the ring had stood in his way.

That regulation, McKenzie said, would be amended to bring SA in line with other countries.

He also promised to make money available for the refurbishment of the Orient Theatre, saying phase two of the upgrades would start on October 1.

McKenzie said he had taken the decision after having visited the venue after he assumed office, only to discover that, despite its historic significance “it was falling apart, and needed urgent attention”.

He said he was making the commitment “because the people of this region have kept boxing alive in South Africa, when it was difficult and not fashionable to do so, and without any tangible support”.

Other dignitaries at the service included Eastern Cape sports MEC Sibulele Ngongo, acting Buffalo City Metro mayor Mninawa Nyusile and the BSA top brass, led by chief executive Tsholofelo Lejaka and chief operations officer Mandla Ntlanganiso.

Hundreds of people, including former and current boxers, promoters, government officials and Tete’s children and friends also came to pay their respects.

Ngongo described the gathering as the “saddest day of our lives as the province”.

She said Tete’s killing had generated “shockwaves and sadness” and had deeply affected ‘not only the eastern Cape, but the entire country and world”.

“This is a moment of immense pain for all of us in the province to comprehend that Zolani had achieved so much in boxing, but his life was taken in such a cruel manner.

“His contribution to boxing forms part of the province’s sporting history, and his legacy shows [through] all the young boxers that he had inspired,” Ngongo said.

She urged the boxing fraternity not to mourn Tete, but to celebrate his life and achievements in the boxing ring.

Nyusile, speaking on behalf of BCM mayor Princess Faku, said the city would ensure that it invested financial resources into boxing in honour of Tete, who had “demonstrated that despite anyone’s impoverished background, it’s possible to achieve in the high echelons of boxing”.

“We will do that to ensure that the rich heritage of boxing in our region is preserved for the next generation of champions,” Nyusile said.

Boxing greats such as Vuyani Bungu, who defended his world crown 13 times, Mabhuti Sinyabi, who is an old friend of Tete’s and a former SA champion, and former world champion Azinga Fuzile, were among those who paid tributes to the former champ.

Bungu, who once trained Tete, told the gathering that he was the one who gave him his “Last Born” moniker.

Sinyabi said, growing up, Tete excelled not only as a boxer, but at soccer, cricket and rugby too.

Tete’s manager, Mlandeli Tengimfene, described him as one of boxing’s “finest sons”, and urged mourners to remember him for his achievements inside the ring, rather than for the terrible way he died.

“I do not want the manner he died to be bigger news than the manner he had lived and what he had achieved.

“We must not allow his final moments in this world to be the headlines of his story.

“His killers must not continue to write the headlines of his story; his achievements must do that,” Tengimfene said.

At the time of his death, Tete had fought 34 times, Tengimfene said, winning 19 of those fights by knockout, with 12 of those knockouts coming in the first round.

Daily Dispatch