Apart from its long connection with coal mining and its rich heritage underpinned by the Anglo-Boer war and Zulu resistance, the rural town of Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal has again put itself in the books of history.
This time, the town has produced Pretty Tsotetsi, a boxing administrator who becomes the first woman on the continent to serve on the world boxing body, the International Boxing Association (IBA) competitions committee.
In an exclusive interview with Sunday World this week, Tsotetsi, a former professional netball player turned boxing administrator, described the opportunity as a milestone in her career and for rural women.
“This is one of the highlights of my boxing career, not just as a woman, but as a rural woman. I had no idea that the IBA would consider me worthy of this great opportunity,” Tsotetsi said.
“While initially I wanted to challenge the gender misconceptions that boxing was for males, I later realised that I was falling deeply in love with the sport. I then joined the local Sibongile Boxing Club,” she said.
It wasn’t long before Tsotetsi received national recognition for her work and she was subsequently given a role in the South African National Boxing Association.
Part of her new role in the IBA will be to organise boxing competitions both on the global and continental stage.
“Core to this role is organising Olympics and Commonwealth games,” she explained.
Tsotetsi is one of two women serving in the international boxing body with its headquarters in Lausanne in Switzerland.
Dundee has produced the finest female boxers in the country. Recently Phiwokuhle Mnguni, a 22-year-old female boxer made history during the Commonwealth games held in Birmingham in the UK.
Mnguni became the first South African female boxer to receive a bronze medal in the quadrennial international multi-sport event.
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