I have poured myself into the many tributes about the undeniably consequential legacy of the Arch, as some fondly called him.

I have been equally astonished by radically opposing narratives about the Arch in these social media corridors. While some remember him for his selfless, bold and unrelenting pursuit of justice for all, especially the subjugated, others perceive him as a significant facilitator of what, in hindsight, was a deeply flawed truth and reconciliation process in South Africa.

There is, of course, nothing new about highly consequential individuals invoking radically opposing perceptions from admirers and detractors. Such is the nature of humankind.

Here is an incontrovertible fact, however: whatever we make of the Arch’s life, the one thing he epitomised was that he actively thrust himself into the coal face of the intense and bruising war against the subjugated in his pursuit of justice. Even the mistakes he made, as grievous as they are regarded by some, were because he ventured to the frontlines and gave it his all.

As I have been reading tributes and anecdotes of the Arch’s life, I am left profoundly challenged about my own effectiveness in standing for what I believe. I, like many of us on these social media platforms, am more active as an armchair activist than being on the frontlines of the abject poverty and marginalisation that more than half of people continue to endure right under our noses in South Africa.

I find it quite ironic, if not tragic, that so many who label the Arch a sell-out behind the veneer of their social media accounts on their expensive gadgets, won’t lift a finger to confront the vulgar indignities that many of our fellow citizens continue to endure every day, let alone thrust themselves onto the frontlines like the Arch did.

I am grateful for the Arch’s life and his contributions to humanity. Uyibekile induku ebandla.