David Mogale standing next to one of his punching bags at his gym photo by Peter Mothiba
At a time when boxing as a sport seems like it has lost popularity, David Mogale of Mamelodi East is still passionate about the sport after being involved in it for many years now.
“Unlike many kids in Mamelodi, I never played football; boxing has always been my favourite sport,” said Mogale who started boxing as an amateur around 1982/1984 at the Rethabile Hall in Mamelodi East.
Lady boxer Kelebogile Maake with one of the boxers who are trained by David Mogale photo by Peter Mothiba
“I used to be involved in street fights as a youngster, whereby I would beat up many boys from neighbouring sections of SNS, but I decided that I must rather use my pugilistic skills in the ring rather than in the streets,” enthused Mogale
“I loved boxing from an early age and many of my friends used to live near the local Rethabile Hall where they would spend most of their time there being involved in boxing activities, so I used to hang out with them and eventually joined them as a member of the Rethabile Boxing Club, under the mentorship of trainer known as Bra Si,” explained Mogale.
At the club Mogale rubbed shoulders with people like Obed Khangela, George Masango, Patrick “Black Poison” Dube and Derrick Toto Gasa.
Aspirant boxers who are trained by David Mogale photo by Peter Mothiba
Due to favouritism and nepotism by the powers that be, Mogale was denied an opportunity to turn professional though he reckons he was very good.
He eventually retired from boxing actively, but embarked on a mission to lend a hand in training young up-and-coming boxers at the club.
Now with members leaving the club as time went on, Mogale took over control of the Rethabile Boxing Club towards the end of the 1990s.
He pointed out that due to the fact that the Rethabile Community Hall is used by residents for various activities like funerals, weddings, beauty contests and meetings, he and his boxers couldn’t train according to their own schedule, but had to use the hall only when the above-mentioned activities were not taking place at the hall.
He then decided to establish a gym at his own home in SNS, which has training equipment that he has built personally.
“But we still use the gym at the Rethabile Hall when preparing for tournaments, though most of the time my charges and I train at the gym that I have established at my home, where we can work out any time of the day without hindrance,” explained Mogale.
The gym is open for 24 hours every day and boxers come in at any time that is convenient to them to go through their paces,” he said.
Mogale proudly showed Tshwane Talks his self-built gym equipment, which comprises a tread-mill, punching bags and other equipment that enhance physical performance.
“As a welder by occupation, it was very easy for me to build these training equipments and my gym is freely available to anyone who wants to do physical training and many people who are not necessarily boxers but are involved in sports like soccer, also use my gym for free in order to keep fit, and many other residents who just want to keep themselves fit come to my gym,” he said.
Mogale appealed to Good Samaritans out there to donate punching bags, boxing kit, gloves and headgears to his club because the ones that they are using at the moment are worn-out.
As an amateur boxer, Mogale became Transvaal Featherweight and Junior Featherweight champion and even today he still trains very hard like he is still an active boxer.
He still does “road work” with the young boxers who are under his tutelage.
He revealed that from 2010 to 2014 he trained prisoners at the Zonderwater Correctional Services Centre.
“This was part of their rehabilitation process and I trained them for free,” said Mogale.
“Boxing is one of the greatest sports ever because it teaches one to be disciplined at all times; to eat the right food and to stay healthy,” he enthused.
Those willing to donate equipment to David Mogale may contact him on these numbers: 060 878 1709