43 years and 1 600km later, Clive Schlachter finally has his gold medal.

A medal that had been in the possession of the South Eastern Transvaal secretary, Julius Weber, for all these years.

Weber never presented the medals to the players who deserved them. Each received a medal after they won the Sport Pienaar Cup in 1983.

Weber handed the medals, which were in a plastic bag, to me one evening and said, “You can give them to the players.”

It is a beautiful medal in a green case designed by the South African Rugby Union.

After leaving Witbank, Schlachter, who played hooker for the 1983 team, distinguished himself as a businessman in Cape Town. He played for Suidoos 23 times from 1983 to 1986.

He still lives in the Mother City.

Weber died two years ago in a SAVF Nursing Home, after having lived in Dullstroom for years after his retirement.

The medal was eventually taken all the way from Middelburg to Cape Town to be presented to Schlachter.

He said it was a great honour to finally receive the prestigious medal.