Legendary golfer Gary Player celebrated his 90th birthday at the weekend by stirring the politics pot, from calling for the government to rethink BEE to punting Julius Malema as the country’s possible president if the EFF leader adopted Nelson Mandela’s “approach” to politics.
Hundreds of sporting greats — who included Bok legends Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers, former Proteas Paul Adams and Shaun Pollock, and Bafana Bafana’s Mark Fish and Shaun Bartlett — gathered to celebrate Player’s milestone at a black-tie-themed event in Sun City over the weekend.
Dressed in a resplendent cream coat, the nine-time Major championships winner was his energetic self as he took the stage with a dance, delivering an emotional 30-minute speech that was greeted with a standing ovation.
Earlier, Player had addressed an impromptu press conference at The Palace, where he spoke frankly about the country’s challenges.
A confessed Donald Trump backer, Player heaped massive praise on Mandela and added Malema could learn from the country’s first democratically elected president about forgiveness.
“I was blessed to spend three years with Mandela. We made a lot of money for young black children. I got to see what he was all about, and he was a saint. He was a special messenger from God,” Player said.
“How many people would go to jail even for two years and not have hatred? He [Mandela] did it for 20 or more years, and I never heard him say one nasty thing about anybody. It’s very easy to be on the other side, as a young person, and say, ‘kill the boer’.”
Malema was taken to task by right-wing group AfriForum for the chant made famous by Peter Mokaba in the late 1990s, but Player reckons the EFF president would ascend to the Union Building if he deployed Mandela’s reconciliatory approach to politics.
“I don’t believe Malema’s mother taught him that [chant]. I don’t believe his father taught him that. I don’t believe he really means it.
He’s a sharp guy. If he had Mandela’s approach to politics, he would be president of this country, no question about it. Because he has the character, charisma and everything.”
Player also spoke about how golf changed his life after he lost his parents at an early age. “I would lie in bed and hope I would be dead.
I was blessed to spend three years with Mandela. We made a lot of money for young black children. I got to see what he was all about, and he was a saint. He was a special messenger from God
— Gary Player
But my life changed when I started winning. I studied a lot and became world champion. This sport taught me to have respect and love for everyone — and that’s the beautiful thing about golf.”
Celebrations at the weekend concluded with the annual Gary and Vivienne Player Invitational on Sunday.
Sowetan