Darius Dhlomo
Association footballer (1931-2015)
- Born
- 9 August 1931, Durban
- Died
- 13 June 2015, Enschede
- Citizenship
- South Africa
- Sport
- association football, boxing
- Occupation
- politician, boxer, singer, association football player
- Team / club
- Heracles Almelo
Darius Mfana Temba Dhlomo (9 August 1931 – 13 June 2015 in Enschede) was a South African footballer, boxer, musician and a political activist.
Born in Durban, he was the son of Ellias Dhlomo, a Lutheran Church of Southern Africa Priest. He began competing in non-white boxing contests in apartheid-era South Africa. A victory in Durban in 1956 over Gilbert Petros brought him the Natal non-white middleweight title and then, by defeating Ezrom Ngcobo, he became the non-white South African cruiserweight champion.
Alongside his budding boxing career, he was the captain of both the Baumannville City Blacks football team and the Natal national football team. Further to this, he also sang in a jazz quintet – a fact which led Drum, a national magazine aimed at the black South African market, to publish a feature on him titled "Darius Dhlomo, Man of Many Talents". He decided to move to the Netherlands having signed a professional football contract with Heracles Almelo in 1958, joining up with Steve Mokone who was the first black South African to play in the European leagues.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q1898916 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.