Thank You For Your Service Lumko Johnson
After a lifetime of dedication to creating queer images in the media, Johnson has transcended to the other side at age 32
The untimely passing of Lumko Leqale Johnson has sent shockwaves throughout the entertainment industry and to the broader queer community. On the evening of 14 September 2022, the news of the death of the tv presenter, actor, writer and radio personality who has spent their entire career creating space for other queer people in the South African entertainment industry was announced through their Instagram page. Johnson will be remembered for may things, chief among them is the tireless work they put into visibilising various queer identities.
Johnson started their career in media as a tv presenter on popular kids program YoTV. Anyone who was a child during the 2000s holds fond memories of YoTV which launched the careers of personalities such as Musa Mthombeni, Sade Giliberti and Hulisani Ravele among many others. Thousands tuned tuned into the program 6 days a week which transformed YoTV from a show to an institution. Johnson being part of that institution as their entry into the industry was a rubber stamp on their talent and comfort in front of the camera.
Johnson’s queer identity was not centered during their time on YoTV, this allowed them to just be a tv presenter without the pressure of having to perform to society’s expectation of how a queer person should behave. Naturally, Johnson’s time on YoTV came to an end and this unleashed the multi-talented artist we have come to know today.
There are many criticisms to level against the tv industry when it comes to portraying queer people. From the very few roles written for queer identities to who gets cast for these roles — the list is long. Johnson is one of the very few queer people who have been lucky enough to score acting gigs. They started off with a role in the hit Mzansi Magic telenovela Inkaba. After that was a small role on an SABC1 production Kowethu playing Thulani, a substance-dependent character trying to beat the habit. The last fictional character they played was Lesego’s (played by Keke Mphuthi) bestfriend and roommate Akhona on Season 1 of Unmarried.
Perhaps the most important fictional character played by Johnson was Ayanda, a young gay man navigating being a young, black, creative professional trying to find love in the City of Gold. The webseries “QuoteUnquote” is the brainchild of Johnson who created, wrote and starred in it. Although there was one season of 5 episodes, the webseries took it’s time to explore various themes; being black and queer in Johannesburg, young professionals in the corporate creative industry, black tax, friendships and much more. Johnson promised a second season of the show but sadly, that will not materialize.
In April 2019 popular Gauteng youth radio station YFM announced a new show that would occupy the 7–10pm slot to be hosted by Unathi Seyisi and produced by Lumko Johnson. Seyisi later left the station and Bonolo “Lula Odiba” Modiba took over the show keeping Johnson as her producer. Both with Seyisi and Modiba, Johnson worked tirelessly to address issues affecting the queer community without “shoving it down people’s throats”.
An earlier article, The Queer Agenda At YFM, detailed the station’s drive to diversify the radio landscape and Johnson was central to this plan as they not only held a queer identify but had vast media and entertainment knowledge and knew how to package a radio show. Whether it is on tv, YouTube or radio, Johnson had dedicated their life to ensuring that there is queer imaging in the media and made great strides in humanizing queer people to everyone else.
On a personal note, in October last year I wrote and published “Davin Phillips Is At The Centre of Bonang’s Problems”. Lumko read the article and invited me onto The Nightcap with Lula Odiba to discuss my article. Subsequent to that, they invited me several times on the show to provide entertainment news commentary. From the time I started reading the celebrity news section of You Magazine I have wanted to be an entertainment writer. I have been listening to YFM since I was 12 years old and the station formed an integral part of my love for radio as a medium. Lumko linked these two things for me and for that I am forever indebted to them.
Tonight may be a time to mourn but tomorrow and the days following will be a time to celebrate a great life. A life lived fearlessly. May the spirit of Lumko Leqale Johnson rest in peace — forever in our hearts.
