Tsotsi
Written and directed by Gavin Hood
With Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto and Kenneth Nkosi
Screening in Australia from April 13
REVIEW BY PERCY NGONYAMA
When the much talked about South African-produced movie Tsotsi won the coveted Oscar for best foreign film, surprisingly, even devout neoliberals such as Thabo Mbeki and Tony Leon congratulated the cast, crew and director Gavin Hood for making the country "proud".
Undoubtedly, Tsotsi, much like the internationally acclaimed U Karmen wase Khayelitsha and Yesterday, a 2005 Oscar nominee, is a very brilliant portrayal of the ills of the capitalist, anti-poor direction the country has taken.
The main character, David, appropriately nick-named "Tsotsi" (gangster), from a very young age is facing a daunting challenge for survival in the "jungle" (capitalist world) where the sole law is"survival of the fittest".
He deals with this challenge the only and best way he knows how. He and his gang rob, kill, and hijack vehicles.
When 70% of the unemployed are young people and most have never worked before in their life, and only about 14% of those graduating from tertiary institutions each year find secure employment in the formal sector, it is easy to see the connection between this hopeless situation and youth involvement in crime and substance abuse that is portrayed in the movie.
The horrific living conditions in the squatter camp - brought about by the government's strict fiscal policies that promote cuts in social expenditure - are a major cause of the high crime rate. And given South Africa's well-documented tumultuous past, the crime is accompanied by senseless violence.
The movie also accurately illustrates the growing inequalities between the new black elite - very out of touch with reality in plush suburbs, who drive around in their luxurious German vehicles - and the hungry masses in the shacks who are struggling to make ends meet.
The government needs to acknowledge that increasing resources to the Justice Department (as Mbeki announced during his state of the nation address last month) and building more prisons, will only prove to be short-term solutions.
Instead, a serious review of the country's developmental path, which has witnessed the commodification of the most basic of needs, with dire consequences for the masses, is required.
While many are understandably shocked by the terrifying lifestyle that Tsotsi/David leads, a sizeable proportion of poor youths, who have had to adopt similar survival tactics, can easily identify with it.
Growing up, they realise that in this world where profits supersede people's basic needs, opportunities are only available to kids from rich families.
This sad discovery forces many into the life of gangs. They also waste away in drugs and alcohol.
Unfortunately, the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS - reflected in the movie - and the appalling socio-economic conditions in destitute communities have turned many of our young people into cold-blooded monsters who have little or no regard for human life.
Indeed, Mbeki and Leon's startling hypocrisy needs to be exposed. It is the capitalist system, which they are both staunch believers in, that on a daily basis breeds more Tsotsis/Davids in many indigent communities at an alarming rate.
[Percy Ngonyama is a social movement activist in Durban, South Africa.]
From Green Left Weekly, March 22, 2006.
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