Police officer keeps on winning
One of Tzaneen’s favourite police sportsmen, once again flourished at the South African Masters Athletics (SAMA) at the Mangaung Stadium in Bloemfontein recently.
Constable Gladstone Shabangu, competed in the long jump and Javelin in the age category 30-34.
In the Javelin he got a silver medal after throwing a distance of 44.89m, beaten by fellow SAPS team mate Christo van Vuuren who took home the gold medal by the distance of 45,44m which resulted in a one centimetre difference.
He says an injury which he picked up from his last competition in Tshwane contributed to him getting a silver in the Javelin competition.
Read: Tzaneen officer excels again
However in the Long Jump Competition he secured a gold medal by jumping a distance of 7.13m which is his season’s best.
“I am glad that I took part in the SAMA I had a lot of motivation seeing old people still having a burning desire for the sports. “I witnessed an 80 year old man run 90metres hurdles which really inspired me a lot, it motivated me to believe that age cannot be a barrier to achieving your dreams. “I love athletics,” Shabangu said. He is currently stationed at Maake Police Station under the leadership of Colonel Johanna Monyela. “As a station we are very proud of Shabangu’s achievements, everytime he wins he is raising the name of Maake Police Station high.
He is trully a great asset for our station and he is responsible for training fellow officers and monitoring their fitness levels, even other stations sometimes request his fitness experties. “So I’m saying to him he must keep up the good work and other officers can also do well in athletics if they can be focused,”said Col Monyela.
The young officer says that he is looking forward to his next competition which will be held in Kwazulu Natal in October.
