Details emerge of Mulaudzi’s accident

Spokesman Joseph Mabuza said the 800m star died in the early hours of Friday morning when his car overturned on the R555 road in the province.

“He was travelling from the Ogies direction towards Emalahleni using the R555 road,” he said,

“Towards Emalahleni, there is a curve and he lost control of the vehicle which overturned and he unfortunately died. He was the only occupant in the car.”

Tributes continued pouring in on Saturday as many people were still coming to terms with Mulaudzi’s death.

Democratic Alliance MP Solly Malatsi said the death had robbed the country of a mentor.

“Mulaudzi’s passing, just a year after his retirement from professional athletics, has robbed our country of an excellent mentor whose contribution to nurturing young athletes would have helped revive SA’s prestige in athletics,” he said in a statement.

Malatsi said South Africans would never forget how he overcame an injury and won a gold medal for the 800 metre race at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

“We hope that his achievements will spur current and upcoming athletes to reach the apex of excellence in athletics,” he said.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation said Mulaudzi’s death brought to the fore the futile loss of youth to road crashes.

“It is a major loss to the nation and Athletics South Africa and this was a young man who excelled in his sport and brought us much pride and joy,” it said in a statement.

“He was one of South Africa’s decorated athletes and had made a conscious effort to invest in the development of young people to become better athletes.”

Mulaudzi was a former 800m Athens 2004 Olympics silver medallist and a Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

He was the flag bearer for South Africa at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Athens and he became South Africa’s first black athlete to be ranked number one in the world.

His list of accolades also includes titles at the World Championships, World Indoor Championships and the African Championships.

After a decorated career which spanned over a decade, the 34-year-old retired last year.

– Sapa