Download PDFIt is hardly two months since the passing of the creative centre coordinator for Rena Le Lona Creative Centre, Ricky Bopape. Cultural worker, Bopape was well-loved and regarded, and was a valuable facilitator at the orphaned and vulnerable centre where he taught children drama and choreographed gumboot dance sessions.
Bopape was a talented artist, formidable in a range of fields. Properly, he was a drama facilitator, an actor, a percussionist, a musician, and a mentor. He was trained at the Witswatersrand University and participated in the #FeesMustFall in 2015.
Bopape’s work at the Rena le Lona Creative Centre involved teaching and mentoring. He taught virtual art to his students, drumming, dance, theatre, poetry and storytelling.
“He [Ricky] loved his work […] his work was [about] giving skills and love to his students and learners. He loved playing with the learners but also not playing while working,” said Noluthando Xaba from Rena le Lona, before adding that Bopape “always taught discipline and respect to the children. He loved the children from the Centre and loved his [own] children that he gave birth to with all his heart. He is still a legend and a hero to all.”
Xaba highlighted Bopape’s unique dressing style saying it marked his dedication to ideas of art. Bopape liked to wear clothing splashed with paint, with all kinds of unique, often hand-done art on them.
Sir Ricky, as he was affectionately known among his students, was planning to establish his clothing brand this year, according to a former colleague at Rena Le Lona, Xaba.
Bopape, as a coordinator from Rena le Lona, also worked with Khanya College where he brought children to attend cultural sessions on the second Saturday of each month during 2022 and continued doing the same in 2023 for study group sessions. He participated in numerous programmes including Khanya’s annual Winter School and the Jozi Book Fair, the last of which he attended was the 14th JBF where he assisted the work of the College.
The coordinators during the Book Fair included many activists from different organisations. One such coordinator who ran media workshops at the Winter School and participated in the JBF is Viwe Mazwana from Habitat61 Creative Hub operating in the Kathorus region, Ekurhuleni south. In remembering Bopape, Mazwana told Karibu! that, “Comrade Ricky Bopape was a highly dedicated individual who worked tirelessly to make a positive impact in the lives of children from vulnerable communities. He was a disciplined cadre, always committed to the tasks at hand. Ricky was not only willing to learn but also adept at teaching others whatever he knew, he will truly be missed.”
Bopape struggled with health problems starting in October last year. He was admitted to the hospital and discharged during which time he attended the JBF 2023 and continued working at the centre. He was admitted again in December 2023 and was discharged after Christmas but later passed away on 31 December 2023.
Bopape is missed by his family, students, comrades, and friends. May he continue to rest in peace.
