Lovemore Ndou forged a career in the boxing ring and became a world champion three times, but he is now fighting for the future of South Africa.
The 52-year-old, who took on the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Kell Brook during his days as a professional, dreams of becoming president as the country heads to the ballot box this month.
The challenges faced by South Africa are such that the outcome of the elections on 29 May are the most unpredictable since the dawn of democracy in the ‘Rainbow Nation’.
Some polls have suggested that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) could potentially get less than 50% of the vote for the first time since taking power in 1994, something which would require a coalition to be formed.
“After 30 years of a failed ANC government, it is clear that our country is headed towards a wrong direction,” Ndou told BBC Sports Africa.
“The dream of 1994 is no more and the rainbow has faded.
“We live in a land divided and once again split by a minority of people only looking out for themselves.”
Ndou says he shares the vision of the late Nelson Mandela, who was elected president in 1994 after spending 27 years in prison.
“Mandela’s dream was to build a united South Africa where people live together irrespective of colour. That is my dream too,” he said.
“I could never fill his shoes but I am a visionary who wants to honour the dream he sacrificed his life for.
“There’s so much talent in Africa. People are not asking for free handouts – they are asking for opportunities and jobs.”
What is at stake in the South African elections?
Unemployment in the country has risen to 32.9% according to Statistics South Africa while electricity outages, known as load-shedding, have been a problem since 2008.
Even though Ndou has high hopes and plenty of ideas, running as an independent candidate means he faces a difficult task to gain sufficient support to reach parliament, given that most South Africans still vote along party lines.
The ANC, led by Cyril Ramaphosa, the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition led by John Steenhuisen, and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters are expected to once again emerge as the three biggest parties.
Ndou’s chances of becoming president are slim in the extreme, as he needs to be elected to the National Assembly, where its 400 members will go on to vote for a new head of state within 30 days of the general election.
But it was a desire to help South Africa “get out of a crisis” that influenced the former welterweight to run for office.
Persistent economic inequalities, allegations of corruption and high levels of violent crime have also dented confidence in the authorities, although the ANC says it is working to fix these problems.
Ndou believes that action has to be taken soon to prevent South Africa from emulating Zimbabwe, once regarded as the ‘breadbasket of Africa’ but which faces its own serious economic problems amidst allegations of corruption against the ruling Zanu-PF government.
“The country is on the brink of collapse,” Ndou claimed.
“If we continue this way, we will economically reach a point of no return like Zimbabwe. That is the last thing we need.
“Apartheid has been partly to blame but at some stage we have to take responsibility. It has been 30 years now.”
Ndou ‘shaped life around Mandela’
Ndou is running for the Provincial Legislature in his home province of Limpopo and a spot in South Africa’s National Assembly
Growing up in Musina, Limpopo, during the apartheid era, Ndou was always interested in politics and had a couple of run-ins with the authorities while protesting against white minority rule.
“I always got into trouble with the police because I spoke out against wrongs and against apartheid,” he said.
“I’ve always been a political activist.”
Ndou emigrated to Australia soon after the ANC took power and, having also trained as a lawyer, has compared his journey to that of the man who was president from 1994 until 1999.
“Mandela was a boxer, although he did not compete on the same level as me,” he said.
“Mandela was a lawyer and spent 27 years in jail. I spent 27 years in a foreign country.
“I want to build a South Africa where the future of our children is guaranteed and we have a brighter future for all.”
Ndou now has Australian citizenship and a firm based in New South Wales specialising in family law and criminal law.
He made the decision to emigrate because of better opportunities abroad, but says he “never lost touch” with South Africa.
“Australia has been good to me,” he said.
“I believe that if I stayed in South Africa, I don’t think I would have achieved what I’ve achieved today.”
Stepping away from a ‘brutal’ sport
Ndou says boxing was his “ticket out of poverty and apartheid South Africa”
Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, opportunities for Ndou were few and far between in South Africa.
He took up boxing aged 14 to help him cope with anger issues and eventually used it as a tool to escape poverty.
“Had it not been for boxing, I’d probably be dead today or locked up (in prison),” he admitted.
“When I grew up almost every kid walked around with a knife or gun.
“With that anger, I carried those weapons myself and I probably would have used those weapons or somebody would have used it against me.”
Ndou began his professional career in 1993 and eventually confirmed his retirement from the sport in 2016, aged 45, four years after his final fight.
Towards the end of his time in the ring he set his sights on his future law career, studying alongside preparing for bouts.
And Ndou believes his qualifications set him apart from other politicians.
“Without bragging, I’m more educated than all the South African presidents,” he said.
“That’s just fact.”
Despite recording 49 wins and two draws from his 64 professional outings, Ndou does not have a high opinion of the discipline.
“As much as I love boxing and respect what it’s done for me, it’s brutal and barbaric,” he said.
“Each time you step into the ring, you are risking your life. I would never encourage anyone to take up boxing unless they’ve got a good reason to do it.
“If I was born in Australia, where there are so many opportunities, there is no way I would have taken up boxing.”
Should Ndou reach office, his bid to provide more opportunities for young South Africans could inadvertently land a blow to the sport to which he was once devoted.
–bbc.com
