A TRIBUTE TO LEO GAMA

It was hard to believe a friend when he informed me about the sudden demise of Leo Gama on Tuesday morning until it was confirmed by a family member on the same day.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my brother, Leo Mduduzi Gama. He passed peacefully yesterday at 9:30pm, September 17, 2018 surrounded by close friends and family. The family is humbled by the outpouring love, support and prayers we have received. May your soul rest in peace Gama Mahlobo loluhlata,” read a statement posted by his brother on social media. 

I was shattered, felt disempowered and hopeless; I did not know what to do – I just became weak. As one would expect, I called my confidante Maxwell Dlamini who simply answered the call by saying these words, “Sbali, sesisele ebaleni – we will never get another Leo – where on earth can we get a lawyer who wakes up in the middle of the night – I mean at 3am – to give legal advice and support even if it means coming to your place at that time of the night and, at the end of the day, expect nothing from you in financial terms?

Human dignity

He understood the cause for justice and human dignity – he was part of a bigger cause and not a commercialised lawyer.” To refresh your memory, Maxwell is a son of the soil who has spent his entire youth fighting for a democratic society we can all be proud to call home – and for this, he has been in and out of prison as a student leader – three times in a space of five years! These are the people Leo represented and he did so with passion and, believe you me, without expecting money in return.
I had known Leo for over 10 years, having been introduced to him back in 2007 by a fellow colleague. I was a student leader at the time and had many rough moments with both the UNESWA (formerly UNISWA) administration and the Eswatini government authorities – resulting in the shutdown of the university for about three times in one academic year.

As you would imagine, we had a number of arrests and threats, but Leo came to our rescue. When I first made a call to him I said, “Babe Gama…” and he quickly disrupted the call by informing me that he was not babe Gama, rather an ordinary activist who happened to be a lawyer by training and using that position to make a humble contribution to the struggle for liberation by representing activists who fought against injustice in the country.

Shocked and humbled

I was both shocked and humbled. He then instructed me to come to his office and when I arrived there, I received the most overwhelming of experiences ever! Here was a lawyer committing to go and represent students for free, even when, from time to time, I felt guilty that we were abusing him. I did not believe this! In the same year (2007), something happened that brought me even closer to him. Part of the university administration block was burnt down in the midst of a protest action and the police were all out hunting down innocent student leaders, including myself. When I received a call from an officer at Sigodvweni Police Station instructing me to see the police, I immediately knew who to contact. I called Leo. I was wanted together with a colleague in the Students Representative Council (SRC).

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