By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Hot shot Australian lawyer and former world champion Lovemore ‘The Black Panther’ Ndou is going to switch his focus and venture into South African politics.
The 52-year-old Ndou, who is based in Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, revealed this during an interview on SABC 2’s TKO Boxing Magazine show on Friday evening.
Armed with seven degrees, Ndou has made it clear that he’s unhappy with how things have turned out to be in South Africa and he believes that he can contribute positively in the upliftment of the downtrodden.
Musina-born Ndou also believes that politicians have turned their backs on the dream of South Africa’s first democratically elected State President, the late Nelson Mandela.
“It’s time for me to come back home. I’m coming back home to get into politics. I’m looking at changing things in South Africa. I’m looking at building a better South Africa for all South Africans,” Ndou said during the interview with TKO Boxing Magazine show host Thabiso Mosia.
“I’m disappointed with South Africa. If you look at 1994 after the elections, there was much hope. We were hoping for a South Africa, which will provide equal opportunities for everyone. But that’s not happening. All the hard work that Mandela had done has gone down the drain.”
Ndou, a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-welterweight, International Boxing Organisation (IBO) and World Boxing Foundation (WBF) welterweight champion, left South Africa for Australia in 1996. And he has done very well for himself Down Under.
“My move to Australia was the best decision I have ever made. Even though I was happy we had a democratic South Africa, there was hope, I had my own doubts based on the history of Africa. We see leaders coming and destroying the country,” Ndou, who was inducted into the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019, said.
“I had hope when Madiba was in power. But as soon as he stepped down, I knew there was gonna be trouble. The best move I ever made was coming to Australia. Not only was I able to win a world title, I was able to educate myself. Probably, I’m the most educated fighter that has ever lived. I run my own law firm.”
