Friends and family of the late Lumko Johnson showed up in numbers to celebrate what they described as a life well-lived.
Media personalities, Rami Chuene, Thembisa Mdoda-Nxumalo, Langa Mavuso, More The Squire, Salamina Mosese, Samkelo Ndlovu, Penny Lebyane, and more, attended Lumko's memorial service that was held at the Market Theatre in Newton, Johannesburg.
Lumko (32) died on Wednesday, 14 September after a short hospitalisation.
Singer, Langa Mavuso opened the service with a song accompanied by a pianist. Acapella group, Hush SA also rendered an item during the service.
Giyani: Land of Blood actress, Rami Chuene was the first to talk about her relationship with Lumko and described him as a fighter.
“Lumko was beautiful, vibrant, happy, crazy, passionate, and they were a fighter. I would say many things about Lumko, but today I want to tell you some of the lessons that we picked along the way,” she said.
“Lumko was a fighter and I’m speaking this from the industry point of view. You know how difficult it is as creatives when you start standing for your rights. Lumko knew their worth, they know what they brought to the world, not that just that, but their value. Lumko wasn’t going to allow anybody to mess with that, no matter what and that’s what I loved about them,” she said.
Actress and TV presenter, Thembisa Mdoda-Nxumalo said she never expected to be saying goodbye to Lumko.
“I’ve known them in a spiritual journey of awakening, I’ve seen them at war and at peace. And today, I see them immortalised. Not only for what they have done for this industry, but for what they are. And that’s something that they did not think twice about,” they said.
“When we’d sit at Wits school of arts, we would imagine our lives in the industry. The changes that we want to make. Where we wanted to create and follow, where our names would stand the test of time. But never, in my entire life did I imagine that I would be standing up here, saying goodbye to one of our own,” she said.
Lumko’s brother, Siviwe Ngani said people should learn from Lumko.
“Lumko lived fully, they created boundaries and shared them whether you like it or not. These are some of the things that we should learn from Lumko. For me, there are things to look forward to and one of those things is having an ancestor that speaks English because my Xhosa is bad,” he said.
Lumko will be buried on Friday, 23 September. The funeral will only be attended by family and close friends.
