The Buffalo City metro has promised to engage the private sector to assist newly crowned WBC champion Siyakholwa Kuse, who lives in informal settlements in NU8 Mdantsane, to get a house.
This was said by the metro’s human settlements political head Sakhumzi Caga at City Hall on Saturday during Kuse’s welcoming home ceremony.
He became the first Eastern Cape boxer to win a WBC belt when beating Filipino Melvin Jerusalem in Johannesburg last weekend.
It was in response to a plea made by Boxing SA provincial manager Phakamile Jacobs.
During the gathering, Jacobs said that despite Kuse being an SA champion and now making international headlines, he still lived in the squatter camps of “Ngidi” with his siblings and parents.
The Dispatch visited the two-room settlement.
“Even if it’s an RDP house,” Jacobs said.
Caga immediately said she would speak to mayor Princess Faku to help improve Kuse’s situation.
“We will talk with everybody. The mayor, the private sector. Yes, he has been built by that environment,” Caga said. “We don’t take anything from that, but now we must improve his life, so that even those young kids who look up to Kuse see the example of his work and that done by the province,” he said.
Kuse was delighted with Caga’s promise.
In similar circumstances in 2022, the metro roped in the private sector and assisted late rugby star and Springbok women’s captain Lusanda Dumke to get a house.
Dumke also lived in the informal settlement in Mdantsane in NU10, just a stone’s throw from where Kuse lives.
Accompanied by his manager, Brian Mitchell, and Manny Fernandes, the 27-year-old Kuse was treated to a hero’s welcome on Saturday.
Travelling in a red convertible, showing his green and gold title next to BCM’s sports political head Amanda Ralasi, Kuse was paraded from City Hall through the KuGompo CBD, Duncan Village, all the way to Mdantsane.
At the highway and the NU6 Mall, everything stood still, with the public celebrating their hero.
Now I’m a world champion myself and hoping to inspire others that come from the same backgrounds I come from, to keep on training to be champions
Kuse then went to his old gym, the Sisonke Boxing Club, where he was nurtured from the age of 12 throughout his amateur career.
“This is where it all started. I was a naughty kid at school,” Kuse said. “The primary school teacher, the late Mr Mntusantu, told me to come to this gym.
“I always had a dream of being a world champion since I started here. We used to train with SA champions and international-travelled boxers like Thulani Mbenge … Now I’m a world champion myself and hoping to inspire others that come from the same backgrounds I come from, to keep on training to be champions.”
His mentor at the amateur level, Vuyo Mtekwana, was proud of Kuse’s achievements.
“When they [a group of boys] came in for the first time, there were so many, but in the group we identified Kuse and said he was going to be a champion.
“We took him to some tournaments; he did well, then escalated through the amateur ranks till professional,” he said.
Boxing SA COO Mandla Ntlanganiso also said they were thrilled by Kuse’s recent accolade. He called for investment by the private sector to help achieve more world champions from the KuGompo City region.
“Boxing in Duncan Village and Mdantsane is like gold if it is supported. There can be more world champions produced. There are already boxing basics shown by kids; we are not short of talent … what we are requesting from the government and the corporate sector is to make sure boxing is taken forward,” he said.
After leaving the Sisonke Boxing Club, Kuse went to his home in Ngidi where he was welcomed by his parents and siblings.
Neighbours and fans sang and ululated as he walked to his home carrying his belt, accompanied by his management.
Later, at the Jan Smuts Stadium, where the Ground Up Promotion boxing event was taking place, he received rapturous applause from the crowd.
Daily Dispatch
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.