Witty eNCA ’ s Rampfumedzi had lust for life

THE death of a colleague whose life touched ours only obliquely, however powerfully, and which ran, for the most part, parallel to our own, can still give pause for reflection.

To be in the presence of eNCA cameraman Elelwani “Dot Com” Rampfumedzi meant to become infected with his love for life.

He was one of the eNCA’s top cameramen whose career highlights include covering events before, during and after Nelson Mandela’s death and the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

He was born at Thohoyandou in Limpopo ’ s Vhembe district on September 19 1977.

Rampfumedzi studied film and video technology at Durban University of Technology. He joined eNCA in 2007 after working at the SA Broadcasting Corporation and SA Police Services.

Even under the most stressful circumstances, he would drop a witty remark to introduce some levity.

Here are two of the many anecdotes highlighting Rampfumedzi’s larger than life presence in and out of the newsroom, from reporters Nickolaus Bauer and Thulasizwe Simelane.

Bauer described Rampfumedzi as an absolute legend.

“Uncle DC, as he was affectionately known, had many sayings, including ‘ they never loved us’ – which became the newsroom mantra – especially when reporters and camerapersons were sent out on an early call,” Bauer said.

Writing this week on Facebook, Simelane said: “I remember completely trusting Dotty (Rampfumedzi’s other moniker) one night when we encountered a massive car pile-up on the N1 highway. I remember seeing him whip out his camera from the boot, walking up and down, his sun-gun illuminating for him as he made his way through the chaos of helicopters landing on the highway, ambulances arriving and leaving, police processing the scene.

“Yet he had the presence of mind to even identify potential interviewees for me, right there and then.”

Rampfumedzi will be buried in Thohoyandou tomorrow. –