Plan paves way for boxing museum

State’s approval of R20m Mdantsane hub keeps dream alive

THE long-awaited dream of establishing a Mdantsane Boxing Museum could soon be realised if Buffalo City Metro implements its multimillion rand Mdantsane Urban Hub plan.

This follows the National Treasury’s R20-million budget approval for development of the Highway Central Business District.

Urban Design Concepts’s project manager, Sopna Kumar-Nair, appointed by BCM to plan and design the project, which is set to change the face of Highway CBD for the better, made the announcement yesterday.

Speaking at a presentation and stakeholders workshop, KumarNair told a room full of stakeholders last week that the idea of a boxing museum which had been on plans for many years now, would finally be realised through the Mdantsane Urban Hub project.

She said according to the precinct plan, the museum would be located next to the Sisa Dukashe Stadium. “It needs to be next to the stadium because the two facilities need to be close to one another,” Kumar-Nair said.

With Mdantsane township popularly known as the “boxing Mecca of South Africa”, former boxing champions and legends, including the late Nkosana “Happy Boy” Mgxaji, and living legends, Welcome Ncita and Vuyani Bungu, are expected to be among those who will be honoured in the museum.

Boxing South Africa (BSA) Eastern Cape’s manager, Phakamile Jacobs, said the organisation was thrilled with the latest news and developments.

Jacobs said: “The idea is not the municipality’s idea, we pitched that idea 10 years ago to them and thenmanager of the metro engineering department told us National Treasury had approved our plan and was willing to give us funding of R20-million.

“But because of the changes in politics and management that plan vanished and we never heard of it again.”

Jacobs said the land where the museum would be built was already identified.

“The first professional boxer in Mdantsane, Lawrence Ndzondo, who was promoted by Mzoli Madyaka . . . both those legends are still alive and we want them to tell their history and stories while they still can so that it is not diluted.”

He said BSA hoped the youth would be inspired and encouraged to take up the sport of boxing in order to make a dent in the high crime rate in the township.

The planned sports and recreational node will include a new clubhouse, an indoor sports centre, outdoors tennis court and improved facilities for the Sisa Dukashe Stadium.

The project is expected to start this year when the meat hawkers are removed from Sandile Road to make way for the development. —