Cricket stalwart lived Madiba’s legacy
Tributes have poured in from various sectors in Port Elizabeth after the passing of former Eastern Province Cricket president and long-time servant of the game Philippus Cornelius Potgieter, 78, on Sunday.
Affectionately known as “Flip” or “Pottie”, Potgieter, a former maths lecturer at Nelson Mandela University, died after a long battle with an illness which affected his lungs.
“He loved people and was loved by many,” his wife of 40 years, Sally, said.
“He was always fair and believed in justice. He wanted to make society a better place for all and hated discrimination,” she said.
Potgieter got involved in the game in the late 1960s as a player and administrator.
He was the president of the then UPE cricket club from the early 1970s and remained in the job for nearly 20 years.
He also served as the president of the EP Cricket board in the mid-1990s, following its unification after serving on the former EP board as president since the late 1980s.
Together with the late Prof Kotie Grové, their main achievement was building the UPE club into the strongest university team in SA, having won numerous national titles.
Potgieter, together with Grové, was honoured for his contribution to the cricket club in 2013 with the Honorary Life President Award.
Sally said her husband was well known in political circles as a former ANC councillor.
Former EP Cricket CEO and good friend Dave Emslie said Potgieter always gave his all in whatever he did.
“He was the ultimate people’s person. His life revolved around serving people and various institutions and trying to make the world and SA a better place. He served the game of cricket from grassroots to national level with great commitment and passion.
“He never sought glory for what he did, doing the unglamorous jobs for the love of the game,” he said.
EP Cricket president Donovan May paid tribute, saying future members of the organisation could learn from Potgieter’s wealth of knowledge and experience.
“Being a former EP Cricket president and an astute political figure in the city, we were privileged to have a guy of his calibre serve EP Cricket.”
May said Potgieter had also been an active member of the Directors Affairs Committee, alongside the likes of Silas Nkanunu and Kevin Helm.
Lifelong friend Rory Riordan said Potgieter was born in Nanaga in 1940, but did his junior schooling in Kareedouw before attending Hoërskool Brandwag in Uitenhage.
“He did an enormous amount of work for an enormous amount of people, as all teachers do.
“He was respected in all the spheres in which he was known. He had the ear of everybody and his opinion was always treasured because it was an opinion that was backed up by years of life experience,” Riordan said.
Nelson Mandela University spokesperson Debbie Derry, who also knew Potgieter well, said: “Flip will be much missed for the positive influence he had on so many individuals, across so many years and in so many different areas, but also for his brilliant mind, his love of sport, especially cricket, and his deep concern for others. Flip truly lived the legacy of Mandela.”
Potgieter is survived by Sally, his son Andrew and daughter-in-law Amanda, as well as two grandchildren, Lara and Matthew.