Lindsay DentlingerNEWSROOMS around South Africa mourn for a brother journalist, felled by Covid-19.
“I am a good guy.”
Lungile Tom. That was no lie.
His giant stature could not equal in measure to his lust for life, his love for his family, his deep spirituality, and his care for and kindness towards his colleagues.
Lungile, who worked for the television channel eNCA, is the first South African journalist known to succumb to Covid-19. He died on Wednesday.
A week earlier he was telling South African stories of life under lockdown. Just two days earlier he texted us from his hospital bed saying he was feeling better.
Several young journalists stepped in front of the harsh lens of a live television broadcast for the first time with Lungile behind the camera. He wanted you to look and sound your best, and it was an affront to him if you felt nervous.
“It’s going to be beautiful, maaaan.”
He arrived at eNCA in 2013, having previously worked for CNBC. From the day the e-family welcomed him, there was no stopping that force of nature.
His enthusiasm for his work was unparalleled. If he had favourites among us, he never showed it. Each of us were precious to him. And he didn’t let a day go by without letting us know it, even if just to plant a kiss on top of your head as he went out on, or came back from a shoot.
Lungile immersed himself in every story — whether it involved a day on the beach, a yacht, a sports field or the steps of parliament.
Just recently he was captured grooving behind the camera to Rosa, an old Cape Malay folk song, a testament to his appreciation for all people and all cultures, and of course, his love of music.
Most reporters who sat alongside him in a car have a music video shot or a singalong with him, much to the amusement of an intern sometimes sitting in the back seat.
When he wasn’t jamming in the car, he was teaching his colleagues isiXhosa. In return, he wanted to improve his Afrikaans. It was important to him that everyone be seen, respected and valued.
Journalist Lester Kiewit, who spent years working with him, says their many road trips gave him an insight into Lungile’s life beyond their collegiality in a newsroom.
“Lungile described himself as a hell-raiser growing up. A liker of things. This often got him into trouble,” he told me. “Adulthood, he said, had given him focus and a sense of direction.”
Lungile took his role as a senior video journalist very seriously. He not only mentored young camera operators, he wanted new reporters to shine too.
“Without Lungile I would never be working as a television reporter. He filmed my screen test for a job at eNuus, and he saw I was panicky and stiff. He told me to breathe, coached me to express myself, calmed me and helped me to do a lot of takes until he was happy with my improvement. He told me I would get the job, and I did,” says Nadine Theron.
Recalls camera leader Kyle Haffajee: “He would go out of his way to assist his colleagues and friends, even if it meant putting himself out.”
His attention to detail extended beyond the lens. Lungile quite fancied himself a natty dresser. Kiewit says Lungile claimed his love for clothes was a “hangover from his youth”.
If you lost Lungile along the way, you could literally sniff him out by the latest eau de parfum.
“He was probably the most stylish person I knew. He always came to work dressed up. You would never say he was about to film a flood or fire on the mountain,” says Haffajee.
eTV anchor Annika Larsen says appearance was important to Lungile.
“He always wore a shirt to parliament because he, like me, in this old-fashioned kind of way, felt it was only right to look smart. He loved the president. Especially if we chased him for a sound bite. He loved Captain van Wyk and his sniffer dog who came on to the precinct early in the morning. He just fitted in.”
He would be very proud to know his work at parliament did not go unnoticed.
“Through his sharp eye and knowledge of parliament, Mr Tom brought the often intricate workings of the institution to many South African homes. His news footage demonstrated remarkable passion, experience and creativity,” reads a tribute statement from the legislature.
He didn’t think it was fair, or that I deserved to be treated that way.
His last assignment there included reporting on the shutdown of parliament ahead of the lockdown. Some of the last filming he did at the legislature was of staffers being screened for the very virus that has claimed his life.
As the tributes stream in, they are all accompanied by dozens of photos. Our Lungile loved to snap pics out in the field. So great was his pride in his work that he wanted it all documented, and if you weren’t willing, he would just take selfies.
