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JOHANNESBURG, June 1: Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje was killed Saturday when a cargo plane he was travelling in crashed in mountains in Western Cape province, officials and family said. He was 32.
“He (Cronje) was killed. We can confirm that,” South African Sports Ministry spokesman said.
Cronje’s brother, Frans, said the plane crashed in bad weather.
“It was raining and they crashed into the side of a mountain,” Frans Cronje told Reuters, speaking before the Sport Ministry confirmed his brother’s death.
The two other unidentified people were on board the Hawker Siddley 748 cargo plane when it took off from Bloemfonte in at 5.00 am local (0300 GMT) also died, a spokesman for South African Civil Aviation Authority said.
Cronje shocked the world of cricket in 2000 when he admitted he had accepted around $130,000 from bookmakers to influence the course of matches. South African cricket’s shining star went out when he was banned from professional cricket for life.
His achievements on the field as one of the leading players of his generation were effectively wiped away by the scandal and surrounding furore.
Wessel Johannes Cronje was born on Sept 25, 1969. He made his Test debut in 1992 against West Indies and was appointed South African captain two years later in a home series against New Zealand.
In 1996, he led South Africa to 1-0 home victory against England in their first five-Test series since returning to world cricket after apartheid.
His dream of winning the World Cup was wrecked when South Africa went out in semifinals to Australia in 1999.
Cronje’s death will not affect a criminal case against the former skipper and his teammates in a match-fixing scandal, Indian police said.
“Hansie is dead but the match-fixing case is alive,” said a top official from the Delhi police department.
“The judicial process will be on and once the case goes to court, Cronje’s name will be mentioned in coloumn two of the (police) charge sheet,” the official said of a section in the official papers for names of deceased suspects.
Former vice-captain and long serving opening batsman Gary Kirsten said: “Hansie was a friend and a great leader.
“He was an inspiration to me when I first came into the national team and he gave me confidence. It was impossible not to respect him.”
Shaun Pollock left the field of an English county match in shock, his wife Trish told SAPA by telephone. She said her husband was so devastated that he could not finish the game.
“He needs a few hours to recover,” she said.
Kepler Wessels said: “I saw Hansie last week and he had clearly reached a point where he wanted to build a new life for himself. He was intent on putting everything that happened behind him and he wanted to find a niche outside cricket.”
Former South African President Nelson Mandela was magnanimous in his tribute, saying Cronje was to become a model of how someone can rebuild their life after hitting rock bottom.
“Here was a young man courageously and with dignity rebuilding his life after the setback he suffered a while ago. The manner in which he was doing that, rebuilding his life and public career, promised to make him once more a role model of how one deals with adversity,” Mandela said in a statement.—Reuters/AFP
