‘I’ll be the voice of the voiceless’: law guru Ndou equipped to box clever in politics

Boxing continues to produce academics and politicians.

Manny Pacquiao and Vitali Klitshcko have been international trendsetters heavily involved in politics in their respective countries.

Former multiple-weight world champion Pacquiao of the Philippines entered politics in 2010 when he was elected as the congressman of the province Sarangani. He held the post for six years and was elected as a senator in 2016. He took over leadership of then-ruling PDP — Laban party in 2020.

Klitschko — the former undisputed heavyweight world champion from Ukraine — has been mayor of Kyiv and head of the Kyiv City State Administration since June 2014. He has been a prominent spokesperson for Ukraine's cause in its war against invading Russia.

In South Africa, former IBF junior welterweight, IBO and WBF welterweight world champion Lovemore “Black Panther” Ndou is making that giant leap from sportsman to statesman.

Leaving his beautiful house in Sydney, where he has lived since 1994, the Musina-born fighter jetted in on Friday afternoon to launch a political party that will contest the 2024 South African general elections in August.

Ndou was welcomed by more than 100 people, mostly from Limpopo, all proudly wearing white T-shirts depicting his face. They had been waiting for his arrival at OR Tambo International Airport for hours after his flight was delayed, but that did not dampen their spirits. Eventually the 52-year-old lawyer, armed with seven university degrees, showed up to a noisy reception from his singing and dancing supporters.

Ndou is also an author and was inducted into Australian Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019. He will go into the voter’s roll as an independent candidate.

He could have easily sat back and enjoyed the success he’s achieved in his criminal law practice in Australia, but his ambition to help the neglected poor and fight to rectify injustices and poor government in his home country tore at the heartstrings and pulled him into the political journey. Ndou and his campaign are based in Polokwane.

I’ve been preparing for this for years. I’m an educated man. I hold degrees in law, communications, politics, human rights law, international law and government policies. So you can trust that if you vote for me, you are voting for someone who’s qualified for the job.

—  Lovemore Ndou, former boxing champion and law practitioner

“I’ll be the voice of the voiceless,” said the man who is not satisfied with the stagnant stagnation in South Africa. “The country today has reached such a low point economically that it might never fully recover if nothing is done.”

Ndou, who left the country to enhance his opportunities as a professional fighter, says there is no question that apartheid contributed to the current situation.

“But there is also no question that in 30 years the ANC has managed, economically, to destroy the country more than the apartheid regime did in 300 years,” said Ndou, who was not every boxing promoter's favourite boxer to work with because he took no prisoners when it came to his rights.

“Let’s take a look at our educational system, for example — how many well-functioning schools have we built in 30 years? Or the electricity issue — how much load-shedding has the country been exposed to since Nelson Mandela left the presidency? How many well-functioning hospitals have we built in this administration?”

Ndou was favoured by a large section of the boxing community to be the next CEO of Boxing SA. He was keen, but his aspirations in politics prevented him from applying for that plum job with a monthly R120,000 salary.

He seeks to call out the issues so many South Africans are disillusioned with.

“I’ve been preparing for this for years. I’m an educated man. I hold degrees in law, communications, politics, human rights law, international law and government policies. So you can trust that if you vote for me, you are voting for someone who’s qualified to do the job.”