Described as the most talented boxer ever discovered in South Africa, Dingaan Thobela is a man with a big reputation. In this extract from his biography, Rose of Soweto, published in the Sunday Independent, Thobela talks of the first time he met Nelson Mandela, amongst other momentus developments in his personal life:
HAVING only been recently released from his 27-year stint as a political prisoner, few people had yet to have the honour of meeting Nelson Mandela in 1991. He had been invited to attend the Rivera fight but due to various obligations could not do so. He did, however, notify the Thobela camp that he would come and meet Dingaan where he was staying at the Protea Gardens Hotel. Dingaan had met Nelson Mandela's then-wife, Winnie, on a number of occasions, but this was the first time he was to meet the great man himself.
“It was a special moment for me,” says Dingaan. “After all the hype and what we had heard and seen about him fighting for the country, fighting for freedom, I was very excited. It feels good when people see the things that you do are in some way good for the country.”
“Dingaan was understandably excited at the prospect of meeting him,” says Thinus Strydom. “As were we all. We were very happy that he took the time out to come and see Dingaan.”
In years to come Mandela and Dingaan would meet on a number of occasions and Mandela would also make a point of encouraging him by calling him before and after a number of his fights.
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