Juda Ngwenya the shepherd

Juda was a rescuer, always calm and focussed on the job. He was a dependable friend in some very tight spots and a great, sometimes underrated photographer because of his modesty. He had a high status as a staff photographer for Reuters, and was respected on all sides of the political divide during the violent 1980s before Nelson Mandela's release. 

He was not a glory seeker at a time when South Africa was daily headline news. One day near Regina Mundi church in Soweto when my white skin made me target of a rampaging mob wielding spears, pangas and car tires soaked in petrol for the dreaded “necklace", Juda materialised from the chaos beckoning me to follow. With the mob and the police chasing us firing shotguns from armoured vehicles, we crashed through chicken coops, stumbled over sewage-filled gullies, ducked under wires draped with drying laundry, even ran straight through people's shacks while their stunned families watched us trying to escape. Somehow Juda led me to the safety of our bureau car and we were miraculously out of there. 

There is no way my press credentials or anything else would have saved me that day. My only saviour was Juda Ngwenya, the good shepherd. May he rest in peace. ■