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Struggle stalwart Andrew Mlangeni who passed away overnight at the age of 95 was also an avid golfer who started the sport at a young age.
He was admitted to 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday night following an abdominal complaint.
Mlangeni was the last surviving Rivonia Trialist – who spent more than 20 years on Robben Island after his conviction at the Treason Trial in 1964.
Below are 10 facts on his life as a golfer.
- In 1937 at the age of 11-years-old Andrew Mlangeni first became involved in golf while working as a caddy at the Crown Mines Golf Course in Johannesburg after school.
- Mlangeni stopped playing golf in 1953 for 40 years when he became “too involved in politics”.
- In 1993 Andrew Mlangeni, a keen golfer, resumed his interest in the sport.
- Andrew Mlangeni played with Ernie Els on the Erinvale Golf course in 1996.
- In Parliament, Andrew Mlangeni monitored the progress of golf in the country with special interest.
- In 1997 Andrew Mlangeni was interviewed by Anthony Johnson of the Cape Times interview about his passion for golf.
- Andrew Mlangeni’s handicap had been cut to 11 in 1997.
- The Andrew Mlangeni Golf Development Program has since been established
- The programme aims to expose amateur golfers to a professional tournament and to give them the opportunity to play alongside professional golfers.
- The programme is organised on an invitational basis only with a field of approximately 50 golfers. – Source SA History Online and Department of Sports and Recreation
