Insight: Grappling with Big Joe’s death from afar

I HEAR from across the Atlantic Ocean that Andile “Big Joe” died in a car accident on his way to a meeting. Well, Steve Biko died on his way from a meeting. I suppose that’s what happens to leaders and sometimes they pay the ultimate price for it, even if in different ways.

Big Joe died busy – I cannot imagine him any other way. He was always doing something.

There is a sense in which I have been affected by both Biko and Big Joe, in two different ways. Biko inspired me, I inspired Big Joe, and he always showed that. That much I know. He did not fondly call me “Dokotela” for nothing – that was the bond between us.

I am sure he cannot imagine that I would not have been there to speak over his body. He’s disappointed, that much I know too. That hurts.

In my book, Biko: A Biography, I write about the instrumental role that Big Joe played in the formation of the Ginsberg Youth Council and indeed in the formation of the Steve Biko Foundation.

I wrote that the initiatives he led, “gave young people a sense of self-confidence” and that he had grown to become “a prominent community leader and member of the Ginsberg Civic Association”. He was the energy behind the Steve Biko Foundation.

His story is instructive and exemplary because he turned his life around – from a troublesome kid to become a God-fearing member of his church in Ginsberg. He was also a fun-loving individual.

The last time I was with him, he bought me a drink, against my protestations. He was big in his heart – as he was in his body.

I was also with him at the burial of his mother, Nosinda. During the funeral I called him outside to give him some strength. I cited to him Cornel West’s description of the word “human”, which West said came from the Latin “humando”, which in turn means “grappling with death”. I cannot believe I have to heed my advice so soon after dishing it out.

I am so sad that I could not have been there in Ginsberg to share in the pain of family and friends when he was buried on Sunday. But maybe that was meant to be – maybe I would not have been able to bear the pain of it all. I am a weakling in that way.

If anyone is qualified to say anything about his leadership qualities, then I am.

And so here are some of my observations about Big Joe.

First, he knew how to handle power – something that present leaders in South Africa would be better advised to learn. He turned the fear that young people had for him into respect. Sometimes I would hear him threatening some of the slouches in the Ginsberg Youth Council with a right hook. “Ziyonqena ezintwana, Doc” (these boys are lazy Doc), he would say.

But his preferred mode of conduct was persuasion and inspiration, just by bursting into song.

Second, he understood, again in a way that our leaders do not, that leadership is about everyday involvement in the community – whether it was in his home or the community or the church, or rushing to a meeting that would take his life. He was not the kind of leader who stood at a distance. Whatever the task at hand, he always was hands on, with his sleeves literally rolled up.

Those of us who spoke about the work of the Steve Biko Foundation, knew very well that we stood on his shoulders

That leads me to another quality that was particularly useful for me when I was at the Steve Biko Foundation – Big Joe was completely dependable, especially when we had to organise youth conferences and workshops.

All I needed to do, was to pick up the phone from Johannesburg or wherever I was in the world and he would make sure any task was done. What more could I ask for in a colleague?

Yes indeed, Big Joe had moved from being a protege to a colleague during his leadership of the Ginsberg Youth Council to his work at the Steve Biko Foundation and beyond.

Few things in life are that satisfying.

To be sure, he was not alone in youth organising, just like Steve Biko was never alone in building the Black Consciousness Movement. His peers included Lindani Ntenteni, Thabisa Bata, Mandisi Aplom, Mfundo Ngele and many others.

However, what I noticed was that each one of them has had a distinctive quality to contribute to the leadership collective. Some of them were more intellectually orientated, others were quiet leaders and others were doers and others, Big Joe would gossip to me, were “just lazy, Doc”.

Their collective achievement notwithstanding I am sure they would all agree that they cohered around Big Joe.

He was the first among equals.

I write this tribute to Big Joe from Harvard University, where I am writing a book about leadership. I may as well dedicate that book to this remarkable young man, who dedicated his life so much to his community, without asking for anything back.

In that respect he fitted properly Robert Sobukwe’s definition of leadership: “True leadership demands complete subjugation of self, absolute honesty, integrity and uprightness of character, courage and fearlessness and above all a consuming love for one’s people”.

I can’t believe I will never see his smile or hear his chuckle again. It’s hard, very hard, even from this far – especially from this far.

Xolela Mangcu Xolela Mangcu is an associate professor in the department of sociology at the University of Cape Town, but is currently at Harvard