Guys and the Ghetto
August 2003 – 25’00”
Visuals: Street bash
Poem:
I am escaping corners in the township. My get away vehicle is a dream, driving it but I get hijacked by extremes of the township. The culprit is jealousy, the motive is that I think I am all that when I go against the grain. But there is nothing, I am insured, focus is restored, the thugs are taking me backward. But forward I will get there. Step in my way you will see trouble.
================== Guys… =======================
----------------------
and the Ghetto
V/O 1:
It is Thursday night in Diepkloof, Soweto. And as always on a Thursday night, the street has been closed off for all other traffic. The fast guys from the township and their even faster cars are showing off…to one another, their girls and their fans. The skill is to spin the car around and around until its tyres are completely worn out.
But these guys are not only showing off their cars. This is also a recruitment spot for car thieves…looking for drivers to drive their stolen or getaway cars.
This event is all about being recognised and feared by your peers and enemies alike. These guys want to be known as “inja yase kasi” - a fat dog of the ghetto.
But to be a “fat dog” takes money, skill and guts. The gangsters themselves made this home video a year ago. They decided to film themselves, they say, to show how they have perfected the art of stealing a car.
It is in backroom workshops like this where they manufacture keys to steal cars. These self-made keys are well known in the township and are known as "igoqa or iswaya". Many car thieves refer to it as “a criminal’s friend”.
Nat ups:
Which cars will this key steal? It’s for BMW’s. What if the police pass here and see us? Are you scared of the police? What kind of a criminal are you? Imagine we are still grinding and we have not even used our key.
V/O 2:
The self-made key or “igoqa” is put into action. This is reality…two or three car thieves band together when they perform a theft. One takes the car while the others watch out for any trouble.
It takes no more than two minutes to open the door of the car…and within seconds, the engine starts…and its gone.
The thieves know that there is no room for mistakes and that once they’ve taken that final step to steal a car, the recipe for success is speed and caution.
Nat ups:
Hey you got what you wanted. All I need to process the papers for it. We will do that. Take it to the township and we will be fine. Are the car papers with you? Yes I have the papers with me. We will do everything when we get to the township. Hey can you feel this car? It moves. It’s ours now. We are taking it. What a nice feeling we will be the men. Hey we are at the township now. We are entering the township…we are here.
Do you have a safe place to park this car? Yes I do. Please do not do mistakes I do not want to work for nothing. No they won’t find it or steal it. When we get there we will park safely.
V/O 3:
Once parked, they immediately attend to their stolen treasure. They have to manufacture new papers and change any feature that might make the car recognisable. This car might be an order from someone, or it may be stripped and sold as spare parts. Whatever the purpose, this is all about making money.
Ups 1:
We are stealing everything. As long there is cash we fine.
Ups 2:
I know why I wanted to steal cars. Number one I like girls and if you steal cars you are famous people put orders from all over. They even tell their girlfriends where they bought their stolen cars. You become known as “the dog” here in the township. I’m the “dog”.
Ups 3:
You know there are different categories of criminals. There are the 1990’s we are the stroke 2000. It’s us who make money now and it’s us who call the shots. The old criminals have fallen even women do not want them some are dead by now.
V/O 4:
These guys call themselves the “new criminals”. They agreed to demonstrate to us how easy it is to steal a car. This is their car – although it might also have been stolen some time ago. They are proud of the fact that a lot of planning and teamwork go into stealing a car.
Cars can be stolen anywhere: a parking lot, outside your gate or sometimes it is hi-jacked. For these criminals, stealing cars are far less risky than armed robbery or fraud, and above all…it pays well.
Nat ups:
This steering is locked. Let’s turn it this way. It’s fine. Let me turn it on. It’s dead…it does not even have a tape. Give me the key.
V/O 5:
The gangsters swap the “igoqa” with a real key in order to deceive security guards at shopping centres and police at road blocks.
Ups 1:
I saw in doing crime there is money, I do make money. I have worked before they paid me R2000. How can you give someone like me R2000? I am old. What is R2000? I drink that amount a day.
Ups 2:
I can go to town now with my eyes closed and I will come back with a stolen car.
Ups 3:
In this game you start as a small boy, we teach you how to open a door and start it and when you become smart, we promote you. Now you are educated and can get paid.
Ups 4:
When we do a crime we get money cash on the spot and you are fine.
V/O 6:
Visuals: street, Buhle and friends
Tladi, Soweto…and another street is to be closed tonight. Nearly 300 partygoers are about to descend on Tladi. It’s Buhle’s 21st birthday…and in the best tradition of the “inja yase kasi”, this is going to be a street bash to remember.
Buhle is entering manhood…and with that comes respect and recognition from his peers. His parents gave him a choice between going to school and having this street bash. He chose the latter...at a cost of R7 000. He somehow believes that school fees will cost his parents a fortune.
Ups 1 Buhle:
I am not the one catering for this party, my parents are. I respected them until this stage and I want all the guys to do that. My parents agreed to do this but the money they are spending will not reach to my expectations. I wanted to afford like Thabo Mbeki.
Ups 2:
Money to go to school is about R13 000 a month. How can you pay that much money? We do not have that money. The party money is little compared to school fees. And this party is education on itself because it’s part of growing up.
Ups father 1:
It was not my choice it was his. He pestered me for the whole year to host his 21st birthday. Until we decide that we will give him what he wants. It was not my wish, my wish was to have a small gathering, have lunch or go somewhere which would have cost R300, not this R7000.
Ups father 2:
These are the clothes that he wanted. Here is the trouser, shoes, the belt, socks and the shirt he will wear when he meets people tonight. These shoes cost R1200.
V/O 7:
Visuals: street becoming dark, tent and DJ setting up
The street bashes starts at six o’clock. The party is, as they say, about to “kick”. The DJ has arrived and Buhle is getting dressed.
Buhle insisted that he had to wear the best and most expensive clothes for the evening. It is a matter of how you look and what label you wear that determine your status amongst your peers. His outfit cost R2 000.
V/O 8:
Visuals: friends entering, DJ, street bash
Street bashes are known as “6 to 6”...partying starts at 6 o'clock in the evening and continues until six o'clock the next morning. Gangsters show up in the latest fashions…and with their drugs, alcohol and guns.
It's eleven o'clock…the music is loud and the street is packed with bashers. Fighting between rivals break out. This guy has been stabbed. An ambulance is called. Many say it will never come…it never arrives in the township at night.
Ups Mavido 1:
The truth is that we here in these parties kill each other and we do this to please others. You need to know the truth, even in parliament they do not know they do not walk in the township. They do not know what is happening.
V/O 9:
Despite the blood in the street, the party rocks.
Ups Mavido 2:
Thabo Mbeki does not do anything for us. We toy-toyed until our shoes were worn off. The thing is we black people like arguing and then the other party will then want to mess you up and that is the truth.
V/O 10:
Visuals: bashers sleeping, DJ packing
It’s six o’clock in the morning…and finding a spot in some corner to sleep is now the priority for these bashers. Many will be up at six this evening…to go to yet another bash and deal with another night of alcohol, guns and drugs.
============================AD BREAK===============
Part 2
V/O 1:
Wednesday afternoon in Soweto…and for this gang, another day of drinking beer and smoking “indanda”, a mixture of dagga and mandrax. This is how they spend virtually every day. Members of this gang are between the ages of 19 and 26 and most of them have already been in prison. Several went inside when they were only children.
It is at sessions like this when they plot their next moneymaking scheme. This gang is involved in housebreaking and street robbery. They say they smoke to forget their problems and the things they have to do to get money.
They said they never wanted to be criminals, yet unemployment and poverty has forced them into a life of guns, drugs, and crime.
Ups 1 Paparash:
Not all of us can be same. There will be those who will be rich through working and others through crime. We don’t know where our luck lies, we looking for it and we will find our luck and we will be successful.
Ups 2 Zeedani:
What goes up, comes down. What goes around comes back. God did not bring us to this world to suffer. Just because I did not finish school, it’s not a reason. I will strive and will get money. Like it or not.
Ups 3:
2 Pac: I want All Star…
Ups 4:
Killer
Ups 5: clip 1
2 Pac and Papa
V/O 2:
2Pac is usually not at home during the day, but today is an exception. His mother is unemployed and she survives on money given to her by her other children. It’s difficult to raise a boy in the township, especially when there is no money.
She believes she has done everything she can for him. 2Pac has a certificate in carpentry, but says he cannot find a job. And even if he does, he isn’t willing to work for the little money he would earn.
His mother worries about his criminal lifestyle and fears that he will end up in jail as a drug addict. He might even die. She also hates the company he keeps.
2 Pac’s mother
Ups 1:
Children say we are poor we are not working. We are not living well our parents do not have money so it’s better to find a way survive or to kill myself, maybe things will be better when I am not here. I tried to show him the way. I thought I could get into his mind but I failed. When he’s with his friends and after they have smoked they influence each other, they’ll talk about money.
Ups 2
Ups 3
V/O 3:
2 Pac’s mother is a dedicated Christian. She still hopes and prays that he would find a job and be like other kids. She knows very little about his criminal ways.
Ups 1 2 Pac:
V/O 4:
These gangsters will do any type of crime - from street robbery to housebreaking - as long as the money is right.
They are notorious and feared is the community. Whenever something goes wrong in the neighbourhood, they are the first to be accused…even if they are innocent.
They have many enemies in their community, and this is one of the reasons why they fear leaving the gang. They are afraid to face life and their enemies alone.
Ups 1: clip 7
Ups 2: 2 Pac:
Ups 3: clip 11
V/O 5:
It was in the same year – 1998 - that Zee’s mum got a stroke that partly paralysed her left side. She is 49 years old and will never fully recover. She is unemployed and lives on a disability grant of R620 per month.
Ups Zee’s mum:
Ups 1:
V/O 6:
Zee was only 19 years old when he first went to prison for three years. Soon after his release, he entered gang-world again…where he was soon living a life of robbery and theft.
When they assembled today, they found out that one of their gang members, Paparash, is on the run. The police are looking for him after he stole his sister’s shoes. He apparently sold the shoes to a drug dealer for “indanda” - a mixture of mandrax and dagga.
Killer has been busy too…making enough money to buy a pair of new shoes. He says he needs to catch up on the latest fashion trends. Before prison, he was known to be very fashionable.
Ups 1: Killer
V/O 7:
The next day, Zee was shot when he tried to rob someone. For the gang, this is life…something they have to get used to.
Ups:
Lucky talking about Zee is hurt
V/O 8:
Their greatest fear is that if they continue with this lifestyle, one of them will be buried soon.
Ups 1:
Papa: we will succeed…
Ups 2:
2 Pac: Life is like a mirror….
Shots of 2 Pac gang walking and sunset of Soweto.
Poem: Education is not for us…
August 2003 – 25’00”
Visuals: Street bash
Poem:
I am escaping corners in the township. My get away vehicle is a dream, driving it but I get hijacked by extremes of the township. The culprit is jealousy, the motive is that I think I am all that when I go against the grain. But there is nothing, I am insured, focus is restored, the thugs are taking me backward. But forward I will get there. Step in my way you will see trouble.
================== Guys… =======================
----------------------
and the Ghetto
V/O 1:
It is Thursday night in Diepkloof, Soweto. And as always on a Thursday night, the street has been closed off for all other traffic. The fast guys from the township and their even faster cars are showing off…to one another, their girls and their fans. The skill is to spin the car around and around until its tyres are completely worn out.
But these guys are not only showing off their cars. This is also a recruitment spot for car thieves…looking for drivers to drive their stolen or getaway cars.
This event is all about being recognised and feared by your peers and enemies alike. These guys want to be known as “inja yase kasi” - a fat dog of the ghetto.
But to be a “fat dog” takes money, skill and guts. The gangsters themselves made this home video a year ago. They decided to film themselves, they say, to show how they have perfected the art of stealing a car.
It is in backroom workshops like this where they manufacture keys to steal cars. These self-made keys are well known in the township and are known as "igoqa or iswaya". Many car thieves refer to it as “a criminal’s friend”.
Nat ups:
Which cars will this key steal? It’s for BMW’s. What if the police pass here and see us? Are you scared of the police? What kind of a criminal are you? Imagine we are still grinding and we have not even used our key.
V/O 2:
The self-made key or “igoqa” is put into action. This is reality…two or three car thieves band together when they perform a theft. One takes the car while the others watch out for any trouble.
It takes no more than two minutes to open the door of the car…and within seconds, the engine starts…and its gone.
The thieves know that there is no room for mistakes and that once they’ve taken that final step to steal a car, the recipe for success is speed and caution.
Nat ups:
Hey you got what you wanted. All I need to process the papers for it. We will do that. Take it to the township and we will be fine. Are the car papers with you? Yes I have the papers with me. We will do everything when we get to the township. Hey can you feel this car? It moves. It’s ours now. We are taking it. What a nice feeling we will be the men. Hey we are at the township now. We are entering the township…we are here.
Do you have a safe place to park this car? Yes I do. Please do not do mistakes I do not want to work for nothing. No they won’t find it or steal it. When we get there we will park safely.
V/O 3:
Once parked, they immediately attend to their stolen treasure. They have to manufacture new papers and change any feature that might make the car recognisable. This car might be an order from someone, or it may be stripped and sold as spare parts. Whatever the purpose, this is all about making money.
Ups 1:
We are stealing everything. As long there is cash we fine.
Ups 2:
I know why I wanted to steal cars. Number one I like girls and if you steal cars you are famous people put orders from all over. They even tell their girlfriends where they bought their stolen cars. You become known as “the dog” here in the township. I’m the “dog”.
Ups 3:
You know there are different categories of criminals. There are the 1990’s we are the stroke 2000. It’s us who make money now and it’s us who call the shots. The old criminals have fallen even women do not want them some are dead by now.
V/O 4:
These guys call themselves the “new criminals”. They agreed to demonstrate to us how easy it is to steal a car. This is their car – although it might also have been stolen some time ago. They are proud of the fact that a lot of planning and teamwork go into stealing a car.
Cars can be stolen anywhere: a parking lot, outside your gate or sometimes it is hi-jacked. For these criminals, stealing cars are far less risky than armed robbery or fraud, and above all…it pays well.
Nat ups:
This steering is locked. Let’s turn it this way. It’s fine. Let me turn it on. It’s dead…it does not even have a tape. Give me the key.
V/O 5:
The gangsters swap the “igoqa” with a real key in order to deceive security guards at shopping centres and police at road blocks.
Ups 1:
I saw in doing crime there is money, I do make money. I have worked before they paid me R2000. How can you give someone like me R2000? I am old. What is R2000? I drink that amount a day.
Ups 2:
I can go to town now with my eyes closed and I will come back with a stolen car.
Ups 3:
In this game you start as a small boy, we teach you how to open a door and start it and when you become smart, we promote you. Now you are educated and can get paid.
Ups 4:
When we do a crime we get money cash on the spot and you are fine.
V/O 6:
Visuals: street, Buhle and friends
Tladi, Soweto…and another street is to be closed tonight. Nearly 300 partygoers are about to descend on Tladi. It’s Buhle’s 21st birthday…and in the best tradition of the “inja yase kasi”, this is going to be a street bash to remember.
Buhle is entering manhood…and with that comes respect and recognition from his peers. His parents gave him a choice between going to school and having this street bash. He chose the latter...at a cost of R7 000. He somehow believes that school fees will cost his parents a fortune.
Ups 1 Buhle:
I am not the one catering for this party, my parents are. I respected them until this stage and I want all the guys to do that. My parents agreed to do this but the money they are spending will not reach to my expectations. I wanted to afford like Thabo Mbeki.
Ups 2:
Money to go to school is about R13 000 a month. How can you pay that much money? We do not have that money. The party money is little compared to school fees. And this party is education on itself because it’s part of growing up.
Ups father 1:
It was not my choice it was his. He pestered me for the whole year to host his 21st birthday. Until we decide that we will give him what he wants. It was not my wish, my wish was to have a small gathering, have lunch or go somewhere which would have cost R300, not this R7000.
Ups father 2:
These are the clothes that he wanted. Here is the trouser, shoes, the belt, socks and the shirt he will wear when he meets people tonight. These shoes cost R1200.
V/O 7:
Visuals: street becoming dark, tent and DJ setting up
The street bashes starts at six o’clock. The party is, as they say, about to “kick”. The DJ has arrived and Buhle is getting dressed.
Buhle insisted that he had to wear the best and most expensive clothes for the evening. It is a matter of how you look and what label you wear that determine your status amongst your peers. His outfit cost R2 000.
V/O 8:
Visuals: friends entering, DJ, street bash
Street bashes are known as “6 to 6”...partying starts at 6 o'clock in the evening and continues until six o'clock the next morning. Gangsters show up in the latest fashions…and with their drugs, alcohol and guns.
It's eleven o'clock…the music is loud and the street is packed with bashers. Fighting between rivals break out. This guy has been stabbed. An ambulance is called. Many say it will never come…it never arrives in the township at night.
Ups Mavido 1:
The truth is that we here in these parties kill each other and we do this to please others. You need to know the truth, even in parliament they do not know they do not walk in the township. They do not know what is happening.
V/O 9:
Despite the blood in the street, the party rocks.
Ups Mavido 2:
Thabo Mbeki does not do anything for us. We toy-toyed until our shoes were worn off. The thing is we black people like arguing and then the other party will then want to mess you up and that is the truth.
V/O 10:
Visuals: bashers sleeping, DJ packing
It’s six o’clock in the morning…and finding a spot in some corner to sleep is now the priority for these bashers. Many will be up at six this evening…to go to yet another bash and deal with another night of alcohol, guns and drugs.
============================AD BREAK===============
Part 2
V/O 1:
Wednesday afternoon in Soweto…and for this gang, another day of drinking beer and smoking “indanda”, a mixture of dagga and mandrax. This is how they spend virtually every day. Members of this gang are between the ages of 19 and 26 and most of them have already been in prison. Several went inside when they were only children.
It is at sessions like this when they plot their next moneymaking scheme. This gang is involved in housebreaking and street robbery. They say they smoke to forget their problems and the things they have to do to get money.
They said they never wanted to be criminals, yet unemployment and poverty has forced them into a life of guns, drugs, and crime.
Ups 1 Paparash:
Not all of us can be same. There will be those who will be rich through working and others through crime. We don’t know where our luck lies, we looking for it and we will find our luck and we will be successful.
Ups 2 Zeedani:
What goes up, comes down. What goes around comes back. God did not bring us to this world to suffer. Just because I did not finish school, it’s not a reason. I will strive and will get money. Like it or not.
Ups 3:
2 Pac: I want All Star…
Ups 4:
Killer
Ups 5: clip 1
2 Pac and Papa
V/O 2:
2Pac is usually not at home during the day, but today is an exception. His mother is unemployed and she survives on money given to her by her other children. It’s difficult to raise a boy in the township, especially when there is no money.
She believes she has done everything she can for him. 2Pac has a certificate in carpentry, but says he cannot find a job. And even if he does, he isn’t willing to work for the little money he would earn.
His mother worries about his criminal lifestyle and fears that he will end up in jail as a drug addict. He might even die. She also hates the company he keeps.
2 Pac’s mother
Ups 1:
Children say we are poor we are not working. We are not living well our parents do not have money so it’s better to find a way survive or to kill myself, maybe things will be better when I am not here. I tried to show him the way. I thought I could get into his mind but I failed. When he’s with his friends and after they have smoked they influence each other, they’ll talk about money.
Ups 2
Ups 3
V/O 3:
2 Pac’s mother is a dedicated Christian. She still hopes and prays that he would find a job and be like other kids. She knows very little about his criminal ways.
Ups 1 2 Pac:
V/O 4:
These gangsters will do any type of crime - from street robbery to housebreaking - as long as the money is right.
They are notorious and feared is the community. Whenever something goes wrong in the neighbourhood, they are the first to be accused…even if they are innocent.
They have many enemies in their community, and this is one of the reasons why they fear leaving the gang. They are afraid to face life and their enemies alone.
Ups 1: clip 7
Ups 2: 2 Pac:
Ups 3: clip 11
V/O 5:
It was in the same year – 1998 - that Zee’s mum got a stroke that partly paralysed her left side. She is 49 years old and will never fully recover. She is unemployed and lives on a disability grant of R620 per month.
Ups Zee’s mum:
Ups 1:
V/O 6:
Zee was only 19 years old when he first went to prison for three years. Soon after his release, he entered gang-world again…where he was soon living a life of robbery and theft.
When they assembled today, they found out that one of their gang members, Paparash, is on the run. The police are looking for him after he stole his sister’s shoes. He apparently sold the shoes to a drug dealer for “indanda” - a mixture of mandrax and dagga.
Killer has been busy too…making enough money to buy a pair of new shoes. He says he needs to catch up on the latest fashion trends. Before prison, he was known to be very fashionable.
Ups 1: Killer
V/O 7:
The next day, Zee was shot when he tried to rob someone. For the gang, this is life…something they have to get used to.
Ups:
Lucky talking about Zee is hurt
V/O 8:
Their greatest fear is that if they continue with this lifestyle, one of them will be buried soon.
Ups 1:
Papa: we will succeed…
Ups 2:
2 Pac: Life is like a mirror….
Shots of 2 Pac gang walking and sunset of Soweto.
Poem: Education is not for us…