“If a boy born with a chicken leg in Klaarwater in KwaZulu-Natal can grow up to be the fastest runner in the world and win a gold medal in the Paralympics, what kind of potential do you think could be unleashed in a person born with more opportunities?”
This is the life message of Mpumelelo Mhlongo, who returned from the Paralympic Games in Paris with the gold medal he won for the 100m sprint, having set a new long jump world record in his classification and ending his golden streak with a bronze medal in the 200m.
On top of this, he is a top academic achiever, has been an ambassador and patron for community projects, won a bursary and qualified as a chemical engineer at the University of Cape Town. He now works for Investec, which sponsors him, and is working on his doctorate on the conversion of plastic waste into energy. He is also a motivational speaker and a multilinguist fluent in Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, English, French and Portuguese.
Mhlongo, 30, who still feels all buzzy and glowing after his immense success in Paris, speaks enthusiastically about his unusual journey, which began when he was born with physical deformities.
Despite his difficult start in life, his mother named him Mpumulelo, which means “success”.
“My mom believes that the destinies we forge begin with the name we are given. And here I was, their first-born male child, with deformities. My mom wanted to know how it happened, and how the problems were not picked up in pregnancy — but I just think they weren’t able to, considering the public health system back in 1994. Then the community started talking about black magic and witchcraft being the cause.”
Mhlongo was born with a congenital deformity known as constriction ring syndrome, which means he is missing some fingers and toes and has a club foot.
Growing up in Klaarwater township in Durban, he quickly realised that the fastest kids were always chosen first in sports and games. So after falling in love with sports he decided to become the fastest kid.
Mhlongo’s mother, Lungile Charity Mthembu, insisted that he attend a suburban school.
In grade 5 his teacher, Ms White, spotted his sporting potential and got him to do long jump and high jump, eventually at district level. Despite applying to many good high schools in the area, he was rejected or placed on a waiting list. He did grade 8 at Kloof High School.
In that year he met a boy from Kearsney College who he resonated with.
At first I got into the top 20, but by the end of the year I made the top 12, and by matric I was in the top five and earned a Sasol bursary that had me doing chemical engineering at UCT
“I loved the way he carried himself, and how he was in the world — he was everything I wanted to be. So I begged my mom to pay for me to go to Kearsney for a year, and I promised I would win a sports bursary. So she took money out the bond, but then as I started at Kearsney they withdrew sports scholarships, leaving only academic bursaries available,” Mhlongo said.
Determined to stay at the college through to matric, Mhlongo was taken under the wing of his Zulu teacher, Nomzamo Zungu, who promised to ensure he would get a scholarship if he managed to make it into the top 12 in his grade.
“At first I got into the top 20, but by the end of the year I made the top 12, and by matric I was in the top five and earned a Sasol bursary that had me doing chemical engineering at UCT.”
At that stage Mhlongo had dropped all involvement in sports, and was dedicated purely to his studies when he met his future wife, Portuguese student Monique Atougia, who was doing a BA in justice and transformation.
“She would tell me that young people don’t engage enough, and she asked me where my passion was because she just saw me studying and partying and not doing anything with purpose or meaning, and all I could think was, ‘Oh man, what am I getting myself into here.'”
Her words sparked his memory of how much he used to love running, and so he got back into athletics. He participated in the Western Province championships and came second last in the under-20 100m challenge.
“The guy who came last commented that he was impressed that I could run so fast with my deformed foot and missing toes — meanwhile he was missing an arm,” Mhlongo said, describing the encounter that led to the discovery that he could go through a classification procedure and become a para-athlete and compete on that level.
“By 2015 I was competing internationally, wearing green and gold, and I’ve never looked back.”
The Paris experience was his biggest highlight so far. He returned home to a hero’s welcome and Investec gifted R100,000 to his foundation on his behalf. eThekwini municipality hosted a celebration for him at uShaka Marine World in Durban, and the Sharks came through and joined the action.
“I was taken by a police brigade back to the township to visit the families on my mom’s and dad’s side and then I was flown back to Gauteng, where I live now.”
He is now set on taking things year by year before setting new sites on the Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
“At the moment I am loving sharing my journey, speaking at gigs and talking at school events,” he said.
Happily married, he and Monique are contemplating having children in 2026. But is his genetic condition a concern?
“There is a chance that I can pass it on to my kids, but fortunately these days it is preventable and easily detectable,” he said.
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