Cape Town - A steel capsule which was dug up at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) has made headlines in Pretoria.

According to Netwerk24, construction workers on Tuesday discovered a steel capsule buried about two metres underground near the school’s main entrance.

It has emerged that the capsule was buried there 16 years ago - by former Proteas great AB de Villiers and his school friends.

De Villiers, who matriculated at Affies in 2002, along with his friends Derick Kuun, Cliff Milton, Sarel Potgieter, Basil de Doncker, Willem Taute, Willem Fraser, Herman van der Laan and their head of residence, Pierre le Roux, each buried a piece of clothing and other memorabilia from the school inside the capsule.   

De Villiers’ First XV rugby jersey was among the contents in the capsule.

The star cricketer was a promising rugby player at school and represented the Blue Bulls at the 2002 Craven Week as a flyhalf.

De Villiers, Kuun, Milton, Potgieter and De Doncker all played rugby for the school’s First XV that year.

While De Villiers pursued a career in cricket, the other four went on to play first-class rugby.

The idea was for the group to dig up the capsule at their 10-year reunion in 2012, but as not all of them were able to attend the event, they decided to do so in 2022.

However, fate intervened when workers discovery the capsule while lying IT cables earlier this week.

According to Maroela Media, the school contacted De Villiers who took the capsule home to clean its contents.

Affies have asked for the capsule and contents to be donated to the school museum, a request De Villiers will reportedly discuss with his friends.