Trainer Mtshali’s plea for equipment answered

For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

These are the words of reason from above, according to Deuteronomy 15:11, which are meant to encourage those that have not to forget those who do not have. The words found place in the ears of Boxing SA chairperson Sifiso Shongwe, who responded humanly to the cry for help from amateur boxing trainer Charles Mtshali.

Mtshali, 56, of Bigger Walker Boxing Gym in Tsakane, on the East Rand, made the plea through Sowetan some time ago for assistance with anything that can help him conduct proper training at his gym, which is home to about 35 boxers with ages ranging from 13 to 35.

Driven by love, he has nothing because the last time he received something was in 2018 when Tshele Kometsi of TK Promotion donated 12 pairs of boxing gloves.

“It is not okay to take boxers to fights when I had not given them proper preparations and that includes sparring and no pads to sharpen their skills,” Mtshali told Sowetan sometime back. 

His makeshift gym is just a slab of cement he did himself. There is no wall to shelter them from bad weather. They are exposed to dust and smoke and passers-by can easily destruct them. Mtshali said he was promised assistance from the organisers of the Arnold Schwarzenegger   Sports Festival which debuted here in 2013.

“Some people came and put the roof [made of corrugated iron] and left a brand-new boxing gym and said people would come and assemble it but nothing has happened since 2018,” said Mtshali.

That was the last the Arnold Classic Africa multi-sport festival happened here. 

“I can’t stop what I am doing because of lack of proper equipment,” said Mtshali, whose concern is that an idle mind is where the devil plays. "If children do not have anything to do after school they will do drugs, drink alcohol and be involved in crime.”

Shongwe visited Mtshali and his brigade last week and the former boxing promoter donated eight pairs of boxing gloves, 20 matching boxing gowns and shorts, hand warps, spit buckets and ladies' training gear and hoodies.

An emotional Mtshali said: “My cries have finally been answered. I want to thank uBaba Shongwe and Sowetan.

“This will motivate these young kids; you know how painful it is to go to a tournament without a boxer short, vest, hand wraps – gown is a bonus because there are professional boxers who don’t have them.

“I wonder if you noticed their facial expressions when I gave them permission to take the gear home with them to show their parents before bringing them back the following day. Like Kometsi, these children will never forget uBaba Shongwe.”

Mtshali’s gym produced a professional boxer in Sidney Ntseni in 214 but he was shot dead back home in Limpopo in 2022. “I always emphasise the importance of education to them – hence we start training at 4 until 6 so that they have time to do their school homework before they sleep.”

Shongwe said grassroots support is important. “Look, the country will not have amateur boxers in the 2024 Paris Olympics which starts in July; that alone talks to what takes place in the grassroots where Olympians and ultimately SA and world champions come from.”