I can be excused for seeking to spend this early period of Lent reflecting on the colourful life of political activist, Dr Gomolemo Mokae.
Yet towards the end, the pain and sadness set It must have been in 2002 or 2003 when he was admitted to the Milpark clinic, I think. Mokgadi Pela, an old comrade of mine of many years, visited him. Ill health was to throw a spanner in the works. He had his right to practice medicine revoked.
This had a snowball effect, gravely affecting his social life. Many who were close to him, whoever they are, walked out of his life – and the necessary socioeconomic support quickly diminished, and hard times set in.
Writing would be his refuge, but whether it helped to make ends meet, remains an open question. I end with the words of the Prophet Isaiah. “I want a day when you set troubled people free and take the burdens from their shoulders. I want you to share your food with the hungry. I want you to find the poor who don’t have homes and bring them into your own homes.” – Isaiah 58ff.
So the prophet of social and political change is gone. The revolutionary. Gone, at 61, to his resting place. Gosh! Death is permanent. Rest in peace, my Tower.
