Untold stories
People’s TRC stories are brought to light
Two of the documentaries featured in the series Truth Be Told, which focuses on the South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), will be screened at the Bat Centre in Durban on April 26.
Created by award-winning filmmaker Enver Samuel, the man behind the critically acclaimed Murder in Paris which explores the assassination of anti-apartheid activist Dulcie September, each episode was taken from the scores of cases that the TRC recommended for prosecution or investigation into more than 20 years ago but which have yet to be finalised by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Those who missed the television broadcast will be able to watch the tragic story of Phila Portia Ndwandwe, who was only 23 years old when she was tortured and killed by apartheid security police in KwaZulu-Natal in 1988.
Samuel’s documentary looks at her murder through the eyes of her son, Thabang Mabuza, now a chartered accountant in his 30s who suffers from transgenerational trauma and is still trying to cope with the loss and anguish caused by his mother’s death.
The documentary’s title, Breastfeeding Warrior, alludes to the fact that Mabuza was just five months old and still being breastfed when his mother, an Umkhonto we Sizwe soldier, was murdered.
Another KZN case which features in Truth Be Told is that of Ntombikayise Kubheka, an anti-apartheid activist and member of the then banned ANC, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK).
She worked as an operative for the organisation and was responsible for co-ordinating activities between the internal unit and the external unit of the ANC, as well as for co-ordinating other underground activities.
The Security Branch of the South African Police (SAP) regarded Kubheka as a senior ANC member and had classified her as being the leader of the KwaMashu ANC branch.
In 1987, she was kidnapped by the Port Natal Security Branch and interrogated and tortured. Her body was then dumped near her home north of Durban.
It was only 10 years later, during the TRC Amnesty application, that the family were made aware where Khubeka’s bones were buried and they were finally able to give her a funeral and a tombstone.
During the filming of the Bones of Memory segment, shocking news was revealed which left all those who knew Khubeka and even TRC investigators in disbelief.
At the time of her death, the anti-apartheid activist had a three-yearold daughter. Today, Thuli (40) grapples with the legacy of her mother and how difficult life has been for her without her.
Now living in KwaMashu, in a oneroom back room with her 10-year-old daughter Zizipho, she often wonders whether her mother died in vain.
The episodes make use of heart-rending archival footage, including the exhumation of Ndwandwe’s remains, as well as intimate interviews with the families of those murdered, while exploring issues of trauma, reconciliation, accountability and forgiveness in South Africa.
The stories also ask why the NPA failed to rise to the task of investigating and prosecuting those to whom the TRC did not give amnesty or those who did not apply for amnesty.
Asked what had prompted him to make the series, Samuel said: “In my research, that involved looking through TRC archive, my memory was jogged by iconic moments from the TRC that resonated then but were forgotten.
“I just felt that some of these stories needed to be told.”
Choosing just six stories to tell from the more than 20000 cases that came before the TRC was, however, like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Samuel spent hours searching through the SABC archive and the National Archive in Pretoria, watching footage from the hearings, often compiling hundreds of pages on each story.
“I find discovering rare archive that ties into the story you are telling [is like] finding golden nuggets.
“An example was finding the actual police archive of the uncovering of Phila Portia Ndwandwe’s bones at a grave site with a police sniffer dog digging at the actual spot where her body was hidden by the security police in an unmarked grave,” he explained.
“In order for the series to work it involved a lot of trust and I believe the families trusted my vision on how the stories would unfold.
“It is vital that these stories be told, especially as we mark 30years of democracy this year. Because of these unsung heroes and heroines we enjoy the democracy that they fought and died for. It is because of them that we can vote today.”
Registration for the screenings, which are being hosted in partnership with KZN Film at the Bat Centre, open at 10.30 am on April 26.
The two films, Bones of Memory and The Breastfeeding Warrior, can be seen between 11 am and 4pm. To RSVP e-mail NokwandaD@kznfilm.co.za
Thabang Mabuza suffers from transgenerational trauma as a result of his mother Portia Ndwandwe’s death. He shares his story in the documentary,
Midlands’ residents are invited to attend
Prison in Pietermaritzburg from April 24 to April 27.
A celebration of human rights and 30 years of democracy the event will include music, poetry, film screenings, storytelling, a school debating forum, a literature fair, a craft market, art exhibition and tours of the Old Prison.
Admission is free. To book tickets go to www.quicket.co.za — Arts Editor.
Lex Futshane.
Sibusiso Mashiloane.
University of KwaZulu-Natal music lecturer Sibusiso Mashiloane recently won the prestigious Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) award for his album