Glory to the heavens for sparing the life of Gwala
● Dicing with death is something many inhabitants of this crime-ridden beautiful country of our forefathers go through on a daily basis.
Some are lucky to live to tell the tale of their horrific experience, like I did after some skinny, smelly piece of rubbish put the cold barrel of a gun at the back of my head during a hijacking.
Some are not so lucky, like slain Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, who was sent six feet under by an oxygen thief that pulled the trigger and robbed club and country of its charismatic captain.
Cecil Lolo was a charismatic character at relegated club Ajax Cape Town whose life was cut short in a car crash in 2015. Death is with us and around us. It strikes any time and anywhere and takes anyone.
But the beauty of life is when someone returns from the grasp of death and beats the Grim Reaper to the punch.
One such bloke who bit the bloody bugger to the canvass is journalist and broadcaster Xolani Gwala.
After a lengthy absence following a colon cancer diagnosis last year, listeners of 702 were pleasantly surprised when Mphephethwa returned to the airwaves on Thursday.
“I don’t know how I am feeling, I must be honest with you, so much has happened, that I think it would take me a lifetime to understand what happened over the past year.
“But for now, I am good, I am healthy. So with cancer, it is a question of time and it will take time before I can actually say that I am cancer-free.
“It will take probably five years, 10 years even and maybe 15.
“But at the moment, whatever the doctors set out to do in September last year when I was diagnosed with stage four
I was engulfed with a soul-stirring emotion upon hearing the baritone back behind the mic
cancer, they have achieved all of those goals. I’m grateful to be here, I’ve got so much to be grateful for.
“I’m grateful for my wife, Peggie Sue, I’m grateful for my kids, for my friends.
“I’m grateful for my father, who couldn’t stand to see me in hospital and had a stroke,” he said.
My excitement was akin to that of a child in a candy shop and my body was engulfed with a soul-stirring emotion upon hearing the baritone back behind the microphone.
Gwala means coward but Xolani was a brave warrior who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee in his battle to bounce back to health.
It was a victory for millions of his listeners and the army of his admirers.
It was a victory for all of us who grew up with him in the industry.
It was a victory for all of us who cut our teeth at Technikon Natal (nee Durban University of Technology).
Apart from being a broadcaster of true acclaim, Gwala is also a firm fan of Kaizer Chiefs.
“I met a lot of people in hospital, and these are people who are going through so much themselves, but would tell me they were praying for me.
“It is a life-changing thing and it will take me a lifetime to understand what happened over the past year.”
The gift of life is something we take for granted. We easily say I’ll see you tomorrow oblivious that that tomorrow may never come.
As I write this, there are many who don’t have very long before their judgment day.
There are many who buried their loved ones yesterday and some will do it today.
In a world full of hatred, war and poverty, which Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes sing about in Wake Up Everybody, we must be grateful for the precious gift of being able to breathe.
Because Lolo, whom Ajax did not allow teammates to go bury in 2015, is lifeless now.
Because Meyiwa, who had several people witness who pumped the bullet in his body, cannot point at the culprit.
Gwala diced with death and lived to tell the tale. It is aluta continua for him. The rest of us thank his forefathers for sparing his life. Let’s go enjoy some football Mr X.