Armien Manuel, who died a fortnight ago, was among a number of players who received their Springbok colours in 1999.
Friends and family bid farewell to Armien Manuel, 79, from Ocean View, who was regarded by many as an exceptional sportsman.
Manuel was laid to rest at Ocean View makbara ( Muslim graveyard) on Friday January 31.
He is survived by three children, eldest Mogamat Ganief, daughter Ganeefa Manuel-Higgens and youngest son Aslam as well as six grandchildren. His wife, Aashiya, died in 2021.
Manuel-Higgins fondly remembers the family’s joy when her father became one of a number of former players who were awarded their Springbok blazers in Johannesburg in 1999 and featured on the front page of the Cape Argus with the clipping posted up on the wall at Ocean View multi-purpose centre.
“He was part of a team that was selected to tour England in the late 60s but couldn’t go because his father, also named Mogamat Ganief, died on exactly the same day, January 31. At the time they were evicted from Simon’s Town due to the Group Areas Act,” she said.
In a tribute posted on Athletics Clipboard’s Facebook page, a page dedicated to Sacos stalwarts from yesteryear, Manuel is described as a sporting giant of the 1960s and early 70s, a huge figure, literally and figuratively, in track and field athletics, as well as rugby.
According to the Clipboard post, Manuel, attended Arsenal Road Secondary School in Simon’s Town and, later, the South Peninsula High School in Diep River, where he excelled in athletics, putting his physique to good use in the javelin event where he held the Western Province Senior Schools Sports Union (boys’ open) and South African Senior Schools Sports Association records (boys’ under-19) in 1964.
He also impressed on the rugby field as a formidable wing for Kalk Bay Marines and later Peninsula RFC. He was said to be quite quick by the time he got his huge frame up and running.
Manuel represented both the City and Suburban as well as the Green Point Track-based Western Province Rugby Football Union and went on to play for the South African Rugby Union (SARU), which was the highest accolade in non-racial sport at the time.