Chris van Heerden boxing for father’s legacy and justice in South Africa

South African boxer Chris Van Heerden and his family are reeling after the murder of his father. His fight is now beyond the ring and one of justice.

Happiness and joy are the feelings Chris van Heerden should be filled with (26-2-1, 12 KOs) as he heads into the initial fight of his Top Rank contract against Mahonry Montes (35-8-1, 24 KOs) on Saturday, March 23. Instead, he’s forever haunted by the tragic Dec. 27 murder of his father in South Africa which his younger brother recorded so that the world could witness a horrific injustice.

Van Heerden first commented on the loss of his father via Twitter one day after his murder on Dec. 28. He posted a picture of his father Daniel with the following message: “The world needs to know what is happening in South Africa. The White populations are being murdered 1 by 1, and yesterday my dad was a victim of this!!! I lost my Hero. Thank you for all the love & support.”

The fickle thing about Twitter is that it doesn’t allow for detailed messages and its hard to always recognize the tone of a Tweet. Many responded to Van Heerden’s tweet with condolences, but others were upset with his words. His comment about “white populations” being murdered was interpreted by some as being a racist whistle call to bombastically false white genocide conspiracies theories promoted by white supremacists and nationalists.

Van Heerden countered with a video message on Twitter to better explain his feelings and emotions. He made it clear that he’s not a racist, nor prejudiced. However, he felt that his father was murdered because hate-filled political talk he feels is being normalized and accepted in political discourse across South Africa.

Meyerton Police released footage of the murder of Van Heerden’s father, Daniel. The video that Van Heerden’s younger brother recorded shows an argument between Daniel and his murderer identified as Sabelo Dlamini. There’s no context and Daniel can be seen removing the keys from his murderer’s car.

With the release of the video, public opinion again was mixed. Some believed that Daniel van Heerden was attempting to hijack Dlamini. With the context of the argument between van Heerden and Dlamini, people rushed to conclusions without knowing all the facts. While talking to FanSided, Chris van Heerden articulated what precipitated his father’s murder.

"My dad owns a security company. My dad’s business is security. My dad was in business with the man that shot my dad, his boss. My dad was doing business with his company, his boss’s company. On the day my dad got shot, on the 27th, my dad was driving home seeing people getting meat from a meat truck in the middle of nowhere. But he saw that the guy that was unloading the meat was wearing the company’s outfit that my dad was doing work with."

Daniel van Heerden pulled over to check that everything was okay. Something didn’t seem right to him, and he decided to be a good Samaritan after seeing a man in one of his associate’s security uniforms. On further inspection, Daniel realized that the security guard, Sabelo Dlamini, was stealing the meat from the truck.

“He approached the truck asking him, ‘hey my buddy, my friend, is everything okay? What are you guys up to?’

“By then, my dad knew they were up to something no good because of the way my dad reacted to my dad’s simple approach,” explained van Heerden. “The guy pulled out a gun and told my dad to get in the car and leave. My dad is a very strong person mentally. The moment the guy pulled the gun, knew that the guy was stealing the meat from the meat truck.”

The argument between Daniel and Dlamini escalated after Daniel removed the keys from his vehicle stating he was calling the cops. He wanted to ensure Dlamini couldn’t flee the scene of the crime.

That’s when Dlamini pulled a gun on him demanding his keys back, but that didn’t resolve the situation. Dlamini fired at least one round at Daniel’s tire so that he couldn’t pursue him. Dlamini continued to taunt and berate van Heerden’s father.

"The man walked around the car to my brother, and that’s when my dad did what every father would do and that to move around the car and cover my brother outside the car with his butt towards the guy. For 10 seconds nothing happened. The guy was pointing the gun at my dad, and my dad just stood about my brother, and he heard a gunshot, and that’s when the guy shot my dad in the back."

Daniel tried to return to his car and drive away, but too much internal damage had been done by the gunshot. He died in his son’s arms.

“My dad didn’t go down,” said van Heerden. “My dad turned around, and the guy ran away. My dad was walking around the car to the driver’s side, and that’s when my dad suffocated. The bullet was stuck in his lungs, and that was it.”

Dlamini fled the scene of the crime but was apprehended shortly after and charged with murder. He was granted bail and has since been released from police custody.

The van Heerden family is left struggling with the loss of Daniel. It’s a pain that will never go away, but van Heerden feels called to a new fight outside of the ring which is the violence in South Africa and the political undertones that van Heerden believes are causing racial tension stoking animosity between its white and black residents.

“What’s happening at the moment in my country, is killing the white man is being put on a podium. Politicians, the EFF is standing on a podium and motivating the killing of another race,” articulated van Heerden. “They say it.”

Unless Dlamini provides comments stating his political beliefs, it’s difficult to clearly deduce that his murder of van Heerden’s father was influenced by political hate speech. Nevertheless, there are political groups in South Africa such as Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Black First Land First (BLF) who have leaders that have made violent racial comments favoring violence.

EFF leader and member of parliament Julius Malema has been convicted of hate speech on two occasions. He’s a polarizing figure who is a major voice within South African politics.

South Africa has a menacing history in terms of race relations. It existed under apartheid for almost 50 years until it ended in 1994. Its scars run deep and have permeated the hearts and minds of its people. This month 15-year-old Matlhomola Mosweu was murdered by two white farmers in a crime that is seen as racially motivated. Prejudice and racism are still heavily present in South Africa and its people are suffering because of it.

Van Heerden’s message about what’s happening in South Africa is simple, “It is not okay for a political party to motivate the killing of another race. It’s not okay to do that and get away with it,” said van Heerden.

He knows that his country is in turmoil, but he wants to use his boxing career to do something about it.

"I want to show these kids, black, white, or whatever. I love them all. I want to be a motivator and show them that we can be whatever it takes. But now that I’ve lost my dad to murder, people need to know what’s going on in that country. I’m all about putting out the truth. I made that video about my dad because people are scared to talk. I have a bigger purpose. I want to shine a light on what’s happening in my country for everyone that wants to see peace and love and that want to live together and hug each other. I want to fight for those people. I want to be a voice for those people."

Van Heerden steps into the ring for the first time since his father’s death on Saturday, March 23 at 6:30 PM on ESPN+. He’s fighting to help honor his father’s legacy, but he also wants to end to racial discords that exist in South Africa today.