Gustavo Costa was born in 1959 and started in journalism in the 1970s, debuting in Jornal de Angola. He collaborated with the weekly Expresso since 1989 and was also a columnist for the Novo Jornal, having also worked for "JDM-Jornal Desportivo Militar" and "Record".
His work was distinguished with a National Journalism Prize and the Maboque Journalism Prize.
On social media, colleagues and veterans of Angolan journalism express their sorrow and pay tribute to Gustavo Costa.
Journalist Luísa Rogério, president of the Portfolio and Ethics Commission, lamented on her Facebook page the loss of one of the "sacred monsters" of Angolan journalism, which she described as "an irreplaceable penalty".
The president of the Union of Angolan Journalists, Teixeira Cândido, said that Gustavo Costa's legacy needs no reference.
"Gone is one of the most cultured journalists this country has ever seen. Until forever, kota!", he wrote on his page.
The director of Novo Jornal, Armindo Laureano, recalled his recent conversation with Gustavo Costa, in which they spoke about the electoral campaign, candidates, programs, results and post-election expectations and shared some of the articles published by the journalist, expressing regret for the death unexpected.
The president of the CASA-CE coalition, Manuel Fernandes, who is running in the general elections scheduled for 24 August, recalled Gustavo Costa as a giant of Angolan journalism and an "uncompromising fighter for freedom, plurality of thought and opinion".
Former journalist and current secretary of the President of the Republic for Institutional Communication and Press Affairs, Luís Fernando, wrote that it was Gustavo Costa who led him to embrace the profession.
"It was by reading you, in the late 70's of the 20th century, that I said I wanted journalism as a professional choice, way of life, cause, eternal passion. And almost 50 years later, I continue to deeply admire you as an apprentice venerates his master," he wrote on Facebook.
Journalist Cristina Peres, a colleague of the weekly Expresso, wrote an emotional note, recalling Gustavo Costa's intuition and ability to listen, affectionately referred to as "Gugu", who "never worked in an easy environment, which in some years would have been stimulating , since freedom in Angola is Angolan".
He also recalled that Gustavo Costa was sentenced in January 2000 to one year in prison with a suspended sentence of 19 months and to the payment of a fine in the amount of four thousand escudos (about 20 thousand euros), in a sentence that the Angolan journalist Reginaldo Silva described it as so draconian that "it is said in Luanda that even the lawyer of the head of the Civil House of Eduardo dos Santos was surprised by the harshness of the sentence".
