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Juliet Adriaans
12 years ago

I hope that this will in some way provide some comfort to my brother Henry , Carol, Vanessa, and Andre. The one thing I remember about Leon as a baby, was that he skipped one of his milestones of crawling .He never, ever did that . He used to slither across the floor or table on his behind at great speed I suppose to show us adults just how evolved he was. Because his dad Henry ,was the principal at one of the more progressive senior schools in South Africa ,he was always at the forefront of the country’s struggle for liberation in South Africa. Leon was a learner at this school too and because of this also became involved in the politics of the day and a believer in this struggle for liberation. We never said it at the time , but we often feared for their safety. He became a warrior for freedom. During our first democratic election in 1994 , I happened to be an electoral officer at polling station in Parkwood Estate. People stood in long lines to cast their first democratic vote. This was an historic day for us. Hours into the day ,I looked up towards the door ,and there stood Leon , coming to cast his vote in our country. This was a struggle he ,too had fought for . He had come back to South Africa to cast from Australia especially to come and cast his vote . VIVA to you Leon and to you it was still “Mzanzi for sure” (SA for sure) I was immensely proud of you then . It is also ironic that Leon will finally leave this world on 27 April, the 17th anniversary of our first democratic elections. We will be thinking of him when we celebrate our freedom on Freedom day as well as celebrate Leon’s life. Although Leon was quiet and reserved, and sometimes very funny, I know Anthony and Lisa will remember him as and Vanessa as their “big cousins” who spoilt them on their visit to Australia in 1993. Henry ,Carol, Vanessa and Andre we will no doubt be with you in spirit and we pray for you every day . We wish we could be there . For Leon , we will sing the old Xhosa spiritual sung at the funerals of our leaders. HAMBA KAHLE (go well) HAMBA KAHLE YOUNG MAN. Juliet, Cape Town - South Africa

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