Cape Town - Tears flowed as the mother of a popular lawyer and political activist spoke about finding her son’s body lying in the street after he was killed.
Advocate Ayanda Gladile, one of the founding members of the EFF in the city, was killed near his home in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, on Sunday.
His grief-stricken mother, Nocawe Gladile, said there were no witnesses.
Gladile said she always warned her son about the danger of his job.
“When he said he wanted to be a lawyer, I was happy, I didn’t know of the burden the job carried. I was always scared and prayed for his safety, and then this happened. I don’t know exactly what happened, as I wasn’t there and there were apparently no witnesses to his brutal killing,” she said.
Gladile described her son as someone who would have given his last piece of bread to the needy.
EFF regional secretary Banzi Dambuza said he was at the scene and saw the body.
“We couldn’t believe it. We are disturbed by his death. It hurts that people who stand up for the community end up being killed.
“The EFF sends its deepest condolences to the Gladile family. He was one of the founding members of the EFF in the Cape Metro and the province.
“He was in the heart of building this revolutionary movement at a time it was unfashionable to be an EFF member. His home was burned down during the 2014 Elections because he was very vocal about people joining the EFF,” he said.
Dambuza said Gladile was not just about building the EFF, he wanted to make sure that people were politically educated.
“He consistently served black people. He would open his doors for those who didn’t have anything. He would even open his fridge for those who needed something to eat,” he said.
“You couldn’t take Ayanda away from the people. He wanted to be among them.
“You could have given him R100 million and he would still be in the township.
“The sad part of this is that we have seen a continuation of founders of the EFF being brutally killed by a bullet, like Khuliswa Nondala and Xolani Jack, all killed in Khayelitsha, and Mfundo Hermanus killed in Lower Crossroads, and this is happening again.
“Out of all these cases, the State has not brought anyone to book. We would see them continue to do the same as they did with Ayanda.
“Ayanda went to get educated, and when he became an advocate he went back and assisted the community members who were evicted by the DA-led government. He protected them and made sure they kept the land they occupied,” Dambuza said.
The Black People’s National Crisis Committee spokesperson Mbulelo Dwane said Gladile was a noble son of the soil, a Pan Africanist and a seasoned black consciousness scholar.
“Gladile died among the people he had dedicated his entire adult life to. Black people. But such is life and its tragic contradictions. Gladile’s life came to a brutal end after being shot multiple times,” he said.
In a statement, the Black Lawyers Association (Western Cape) said it was concerned that this phenomenon of the killing of black lawyers in their own communities was becoming common.
“The unfortunate irony is that advocate Gladile dedicated his life to live in the midst of our people… in service of the desperate and vulnerable, yet he gets killed within the very community he makes sacrifices to serve.”
Police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie said Harare detectives were probing a murder case after the death of the 34-year-old man in Makhaza on Sunday.
“Preliminary investigation reveals that members attended a shooting incident that occurred in Golide Street in Makhaza, yesterday, Sunday, August 13 at about 4:50pm. On arrival at the scene, the members found the deceased who had already succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained to his neck,” he said.
“Police and forensic experts combed the scene for clues, but no arrests have been made yet.
“We appeal to anyone with information to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111. All information will be dealt with in confidentiality.”