Vondela Landingwe played rugby for Crusaders in Gugulethu and Western Province under the auspices of the non-racial South African Rugby Union (SARU) during the apartheid era. He was also a brilliant swimmer, and served as a lifesaver at Mnandi Beach and the swimming pools in the Black townships in Cape Town.
He later became involved in politics, and was arrested in the case of the State versus Zephania Mothopeng and 17 Others for staging protests in support of the Soweto uprisings of 1976. He was imprisoned for about 10 years on Robben Island.
When he was released from Robben Island he immediately became involved as a peace mediator, in the bloody taxi wars that ravaged the townships of Cape Town. Landingwe was part of the police forum that was in the forefront of riding the community of the threat of people involved in the’ taxi wars’ in the townships. He also served in the office of the mayor in Cape Town and as a MEC in the Western Cape provincial government.
Vondela Landingwe passed away in November 2018.