Calatas are an ordinary couple who are extraordinarily brave

Cape Town - Lukhanyo Calata is no ordinary man. I thought he was but I was wrong. In fact, Lukhanyo is exceptionally brave. Dare I say if his father were alive today he would be very proud. Courage runs in his blood.

Abigail Calata is no ordinary woman. Together with Lukhanyo, the journalist and author was prepared to sacrifice all they had and their family’s well-being in support of her husband against injustice.

I am an ordinary man. I flinch when confronted with adversity, even when I have the unequivocal support of an extraordinary woman in Laylaa Abarder.

But despite this unconditional and unwavering support I would think several times before putting my livelihood at risk. I’m not a trust fund kid. Far from it, I’m one pay cheque away from losing everything.

Lukhanyo and Abigail, who have a young son, aren’t trust fund kids either. But the difference is they don’t blink in the face of adversity. The couple earned my respect when the saga known as the #SABC8 unfolded.

I met Lukhanyo more than a decade ago and didn’t really know who he was except that he was a talented young broadcaster who had worked in both radio and TV journalism.

Only later did I realise he was the son of Struggle activist Fort Calata - one of the Cradock Four who were assassinated at the hands of the apartheid regime’s brutal machinery.

Lukhanyo doesn’t go around telling people who his daddy was. Had it not been for two of my mentors, Benny Gool and Roger Friedman, I may never have known about the link.

This context is important for what happened next. It was Monday, June 27, 2016. Hlaudi Motsoeneng was creating havoc at the SABC, ordering journalists, among other ridiculous moves, to turn their cameras away from protests.

Journalists who stood up against Hlaudi were fired. A core group, who came to be known as the #SABC8, were at the centre of the rebellion.

Lukhanyo was part of this group, first summarily suspended and then dismissed.

It was an ordinary day in the Cape Argus newsroom when I got an extraordinary call that Monday. On the line was radio broadcaster, Koketso Sachane, a mutual friend of Lukhanyo and I, to say Lukhanyo wanted to break his silence about Hlaudi’s reign of terror. He was ready to stand in direct opposition to his bosses.

Lukhanyo was by then an accomplished and high-profile parliamentary correspondent for the SABC.

The news value immediately dawned on me: Fort Calata’s son was to walk his father’s footsteps against injustice.

I devoted big resources to the story, assigning deputy news editor Lance Witten to interview Lukhanyo. We brought in a video team and started broadcasting Lukhanyo’s interview. It made an immediate impact.

The interview was splashed on the front page of the Cape Argus the next day with the headline “Is this what Fort Calata died for?” and the subhead “Slain activist’s son and SABC staffer hits out at his bosses”.

Lukhanyo told Witten in the interview: “I made the decision to become a journalist after years of watching journalists coming to our home as part of their drive to tell the story of my father and his comrades.

“Thirty-one years later, I now work as a news reporter, with the sole purpose of telling stories of my people with dedication, truth and freedom.

“A freedom that many like my father either died or were imprisoned for.

“It is therefore with great sadness that I am confronted with the disturbing direction being taken by my employers. A direction I believe flies in the face of what many have sacrificed.”

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I was in awe of Lukhanyo’s bravery. A few days later Lukhanyo and Abigail showed even greater courage when they joined a group of journalists in protest outside the SABC’s Sea Point offices and in support of his colleagues. Days later, Lukhanyo was fired.

I called Lukhanyo after he was dismissed, feeling somehow responsible. He reassured that he did the right thing and would do it again if he needed to.

Fortunately, sanity prevailed and Lukhanyo is back at the SABC doing country duty and reporting from Parliament.

Now Lukhanyo and Abigail are ready to launch the book they had co-written, My father Died for This, telling the story of their exceptional bravery.

They’re an ordinary couple - with bills and school runs. But they are doing extraordinary things.

The book will give heart and hope to anyone who is being bullied and oppressed. It is recommended reading for every South African.

* Follow more of Abarder’s musings on Twitter - @GasantAbarder.