JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Mandla Maseko, a South African man who had won the opportunity to become the first black African to go into space, has died in a motorcycle crash. He was 30.

Maseko was killed in Pretoria over the weekend, according to a family statement reported by local media .

Maseko became known as an "Afronaut" and was an inspiration to many South Africans when he won an international competition and spent a week in training at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2015. His goal was to go into suborbital flight in which he would experience weightlessness, but it didn't happen.

South African media reported Monday that Maseko was working as a part-time disc jockey and was a candidate officer in the South African air force.