Thembile Ndabeni
Cape Town - Looking back, it was surprising that black people following boxing had a soft spot for Gerrie Coetzee – until, of course, he had a black boxer or any non-white as an opponent.
Nobody dared to support an Afrikaner against a black person; Afrikaners represented oppression against black people.
It was no wonder then when in 1979, in his world heavyweight title fight against black American boxer John Tate, black people were behind Tate, somebody they had probably only heard of for the first time. Gerrie lost the fight, to the jubilation of black people.
However, the upset from black people was obvious when Coetzee won against Leon Spinks. He kept the belt (title) for a short while, losing it to Greg Page the following year . The jubilation among black people was again loud.
What we did not know was that Coetzee was vehemently opposed to racism.
After winning the world heavyweight title against Michael Dokes, Coetzee and his business manager, Thinus Strydom, were treated to a hero’s welcome at the Johannesburg airport.
Among the thousands were government officials and then foreign affairs minister Pik Botha. It was surprising that an apartheid Cabinet minister celebrated the WBA conquest because Coetzee was known internationally to oppose racial segregation.
At the press conference that followed in Ohio in September 1983, Coetzee made it known that he strongly disapproved of his internationally popular “great white hope” label. That was further confirmed by the Washington Post when it reported that he hated being referred to as South Africa’s “great white hope”.
“I feel I am fighting for everybody, black and white. What makes me happy is for black, brown and white people to accept me as a fighter.”
It is thought that because of this stance, one of his biggest fans was the late president Nelson Mandela, who on one occasion listened to broadcasts of his fights on the radio while he was in prison.
It is unfortunate that his boxing career began and ended during the evil apartheid era. As a result, instead of wishing him success, the majority of the population in the country wished he would lose.
Besides the fact that he hailed from the Afrikaner community, there was a lack of knowledge.
Though some of us could see and sense that he was different from the likes of Kallie Knoetze, we did not have the full information and power to convince other people because we were still young.
But when he fought Knoetze, we favoured him. It is unfortunate that the spell of apartheid and the lack of knowledge from the people, especially Africans, cost him big time. The majority felt he represented the oppressors – white people, especially the Afrikaners.
But still, when he passed on almost 40 years after winning the world heavyweight title, two things failed to happen:
- Most people still do not know who he was and how he felt about apartheid (racism), especially those who were there during the apartheid era.
- An apology was not issued to his family. Though this should have been done while he was still alive, it is better late than never.
But was the post-1994 media not supposed to play a role in shedding the light that was hidden by the apartheid system?
This is what Muhammad Ali said about Gerrie: “Muhammad said Gerrie was a special human being” .
The incoming film about him, Against All Odds, should be marketed as much as possible so that many people can watch it.
That will inform people about what he stood for and clear his name regarding apartheid. In the process, that would provide further healing and comfort to his family.
September 23 would have marked the 40th anniversary of the “Boksburg Bomber” winning his world heavyweight title against Dokes.
He was the first boxer from Africa to win a world heavyweight title. He died on January 12 this year from cancer, at the age of 67.
* Ndabeni is a former history tutor at UWC and a former teacher at Bulumko Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha.
Cape Times
* The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.