Johnson heard Leftwich speak at a NUSAS meeting and recalled almost sixty years later that "he spoke with a charm and a power that I have seldom seen equalled".
He and a small group of fellow students blew up a Cape Town suburban railway signal cable after which he was detained on 4 July 1964.
[9] Stephanie Kemp, who spent time in jail for her involvement in the bombing, stated on her Facebook page that she had "gone through a painful journey of reconciliation with him over 12 or more years.
Author Hugh Lewin, who was also jailed for his role, wrote of his path to reconciliation with Leftwich in the book Stones Against the Mirror: Friendship in the Time of the South African Struggle.
He co-founded the Developmental Leadership Program, an international initiative that looks into the key roles played by leaders, elites, and coalitions in development.