South Africa Mourns Mandla Maseko, SA Man Destined For Trip To Space

In a sad turn of events the first black man to have been to space Mandla Maseko a SA man died in a motorcycle accident yesterday before he could make the historic trip. Mandla had beat millions of people to win the trip to space that would make him the first black man to be in space. The Sowetan Live reports:

Mandla Maseko who beat a million people to win a sub-orbital trip that could have seen him become the first black African in space has been killed in a motorcycle crash.

Maseko, popularly known as Spaceboy and Afronaut, was one of 23 people who won a seat on a trip to space sponsored by the Axe Apollo Space Academy.

Maseko, 30, grew up in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, and was a candidate officer in the South African Air Force

Condolence Messages have poured in from all corners of South Africa with the hashtag #MandlaMaseko trending on Twitter.

More: Sowetan Live