‘I feel bad about not checking on Dingaan’

Two close friends of former world championship boxer Dingaan Thobela, who last spoke to him on the phone a week before his body was found at one of his Johannesburg properties, regret not checking in on him. 

Thobela, 57, was discovered by his family, after a day of searching for him at various properties he owned, in a secluded building in Langlaagte on Monday evening. It is believed he died of a heart attack.

Jan Bergman, a former world champion himself, spoke to Thobela last Tuesday, as the two were planning to attend a boxing event in Parktown. 

“He told me he was not going to make it to the event ... on Friday. He said he was not feeling that well, but he was OK. He did not sound bad on the phone. He just said he had flu. His words were, ‘Jan, I’m good — don’t worry.’ 

“The event happened on Friday, and after the function I should have gone to see him, but I did not. I feel very bad. I feel guilty that when he said he was ill I did not go and check [on] him. It hurts me so much,” he said. 

He said he was getting over a flu. On the phone, he did not sound like a person who [was] seriously sick. He sounded like someone who was recovering from the flu

—  Deon Potgieter, friend and author

On Monday, Bergman received a call from Thobela’s former trainer, Norman Hlabane, who asked him if he knew of the boxer’s whereabouts, as no-one had been able to contact him.

Bergman called Thobela’s son, Bongani, and told him his father could not be reached. Later that day, Bergman called Bongani again, and the phone was answered by his mother, who broke the news of the boxer’s death to him. 

Bergman’s friendship with Thobela — who famously earned the moniker “Rose of Soweto” — started in 1990 when he became a professional boxer.He said Thobela never stayed in one place for long, as he owned several properties in Johannesburg and moved between them.

Deon Potgieter, another friend and the author of Thobela’s biography Rose of Soweto: The Dingaan Thobela Story, also spoke to him last Tuesday. 

“He said he was getting over a flu. On the phone, he did not sound like a person who [was] seriously sick. He sounded like someone who was recovering from the flu,” Potgieter said. 

He said Thobela often attended school plays in which Potgieter’s daughter performed, and one was scheduled for Friday, so he had texted him and asked him how he was feeling.

“The message did not go through. I later sent him another message. I did not want to call him, because I did not want him to feel obliged to come and watch my daughter’s performance when he was sick. At that stage, I did not think the worst,” Potgieter said.

On Saturday he saw his WhatsApp message had not been read by Thobela, and that gave him a bad feeling. 

Potgieter learnt from his neighbour only on Tuesday that Thobela had died.

The Sunday Times visited the dwelling where Thobela’s body was found. It is a little cottage with a high wall. Next to it is an old hotel used by locals as a drinking spot.

Neighbours said he lived in the cottage on the property. 

“He was a very private man. He lived a quiet life, not wanting anyone to know where he was and what he was doing,” a neighbour who wished to remain anonymous said.

Another resident who did not want to be named described him as kind person. 

Thobela disappeared from the public eye after his Soweto business, Rose Funeral Undertakers, was investigated by the police in 2008. Several families claimed the funeral home had taken thousands of rand for burials but then not honoured the policies.

Family spokesperson and friend Eddie Mutungutungu said the funeral parlour was still in operation, but Thobela was no longer actively involved in running it. He said the funeral and memorial service for Thobela was expected to take place this week, and that the family was finalising the logistics. 

“Dingaan was the kind of person who liked to live a private life. He was very jolly, but private ... We kept contact with him through calls.

“On Wednesday he was OK and we could reach him. We started losing contact with him on Thursday, as his phone was off. On Saturday morning we started getting worried. That is when the family members went around searching [for] him. We only found him on Monday,” Mutungutungu said.

Thobela was divorced at the time of his death, and his ex-wife lives in Denmark.