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First black South African in space

"The ANC Youth League would like to celebrate and extol the first black South African, who is poised to defy the laws of physical and political gravity - Mandla Maseko, who hails from the dusty streets of Mabopane," the league said in a statement.

The ANC Youth League congratulated Mandla Maseko, who is to become the first black South African to travel to outer space.

"The ANC Youth League would like to celebrate and extol the first black South African, who is poised to defy the laws of physical and political gravity - Mandla Maseko, who hails from the dusty streets of Mabopane," the league said in a statement.

"Like Mandla did, he saw the advert and entered the competition and after gruelling months of the competition he emerged victorious."

The ANCYL said it showed that no matter where one come from or what the life situation was, dreaming, dedication and hard work paid off.

It was a great life lesson to all, young and old, the league said.

On Monday, Pretoria News reported that Maseko, 25, had won the Axe Apollo Space Academy competition.

He told the newspaper that he was the only South African "future astronaut" among a group of 23 young people from across the world who would get to spend an hour in space on the Lynx Mark II Shuttle in 2015.

Maseko would be the only other South African, other than billionaire Mark Shuttleworth, to have travelled into space, according to the report.

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