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SOUTH AFRICA
A FAMILY AFFAIR
Jan 2001 –
26’
ANNA-L BIT: IN A REMOTE RURAL
VILLAGE IN SOUTHERN MPUMALANGA, A TRAGEDY IS UNFOLDING. CHILD RAPE AND INCEST
THREATEN TO OVERTAKE A COMMUNITY ALREADY BATTLING SEVERE POVERTY. ON SPECIAL
ASSIGNMENT TONIGHT, WE TRAVEL TO MPUMALANGA, WHERE ONE YOUNG MAN HAS TAKEN UP
THE BATTLE ON BEHALF OF THE CHILDREN OF HIS COMMUNITY...
THOKOZANI MTSHALI LIVES AND
WORKS IN JOHANNESBURG. HE'S COME TO GERMISTON TO CATCH A TAXI HOME
HE'S GOING THERE TO SEE HIS
EXTENDED FAMILY AND TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS DAUGHTER...BUT HE ALSO HAS ANOTHER
MISSION IN MIND...A MISSION THAT HE HOPES WILLFORCE HIS COMMUNITY TO LOOK AT
THEMSELVES IN A NEW WAY.
THOKZ UPS: Originally I come from
Driefontein...we are sort of a family.
A FAMILY
AFFAIR
IN DRIEFONTEIN GROWN MEN ARE
WAGING A WAR OF INCEST AND RAPE AGAINST THE CHILDREN. THOKOZANI MTSHALI IS
RETURNING TO SHINE A LIGHT ON THESE DARK SECRETS...TO GIVE THE CHILDREN BACK
THEIR VOICE.
DRIEFONTEIN IS THE LAST PLACE
THOKOZANI EXPECTED TO FIND SUCH TRAGEDY AND SHAME. IT WAS ONCE A PLACE WHERE
PEOPLE STOOD TOGETHER AND FOUGHT OFF THREATS OF FORCED REMOVAL AND
POVERTY.
IN 1912 ANC LEADERS BOUGHT
THREE FARMS IN THE OLD TRANSVAAL, AND CALLED IT
DRIEFONTEIN. IN 1948 THE APARTHEID GOVERNMENT CLASSIFIED THE VILLAGE AS A
"BADLY SITUATED BLACK SPOT".
BUT THE LANDOWNERS PROUDLY
HELD OUT. THEY WERE PROSPEROUS FARMERS WHO FED THEMSELVES AND SOLD THEIR
SURPLUS PRODUCE IN SURROUNDING WHITE TOWNS. DRIEFONTEIN WAS A HAVEN OF PROGRESS
AND HOPE.
ON CAMERA THOKZ UPS: We grew up when...even the piece where you're
staying...
THE TIDE TURNED IN THE 1980s
WHEN ONE OF THE GREAT STRUGGLE LEADERS WAS GUNNED DOWN.
SLOWLY BUT SURELY, THE
COMMUNITY STARTED TO LOSE THEIR WAY.
IT WAS LEFT TO YOUNGSTERS
LIKE THOKOZANI, MERE TEENAGERS THEN, TO KEEP THE STRUGGLE ALIVE…
ON CAMERA THOKZ UPS: All the children...tackle as a journalist.
THOKOZANI LEFT DRIEFTONTEIN
IN 1990 TO STUDY IN DURBAN. BUT EVERY HOLIDAY HE'D VISIT. SPEAKING TO FAMILY
AND FRIENDS, HE BEGAN TO REALISE THAT SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAD BEEN LET LOOSE IN
THE VILLAGE OF HIS YOUTH
ON CAMERA THOKZ UPS: At the time...problems in Driefontein.
ON CAMERA THOKZ UPS: Thereafter…raped by family members
THE CLINIC REFERRED THOKOZANI
TO ZAMA…A 12-YEAR OLD WHO LIVED WITH HER MOTHER AND FATHER.
HER ORDEAL STARTED ONE NIGHT
HER MOTHER WAS AWAY VISITING A SICK RELATIVE. ZAMA WAS BABY-SITTING HER LITTLE
BROTHER. SHE WAS ASLEEP… HER FATHER DUE BACK FROM NIGHSHIFT AT THE NEARBY
COALMINE.
ZAMA UPS: Nobody...he would kill me.
ZAMA BARELY HAD TIME TO DEAL
WITH THE SHOCK OF THE FIRST RAPE…LESS THAN A WEEK LATER, HER FATHER WAS BACK IN
HER BED…
ZAMA UPS: When he came back...offered to give me R300.
ZAMA SAID NOTHING AND FELT
SICK ALL THE TIME. HER MOTHER WAS NOW HOME, SO THE ABUSE STOPPED FOR A WHILE.
BUT IT WASN'T OVER YET…HER FATHER RAPED HER A THIRD TIME. THIS TIME, SHE WAS
ALREADY PREGNANT WITH HIS CHILD…
UPS ZAMA: When I was...we will go hungry.
ZAMA'S PREGNANCY STARTED TO
SHOW. THERE WAS NO WAY THE INCEST COULD REMAIN A SECRET. THE FAMILY DENIED THE
CHILD WAS HER FATHER'S…ONLY HER MOTHER STOOD BY HER AND LAID CHARGES WITH THE
POLICE. THE FAMILY THREATENED THEM…IF THEY DIDN’T STOP
THEY WOULD LAND UP IN THE DAM. ZAMA AND HER MOTHER FLED
AND HER MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER TOOK THEM IN.
UPS GOGO: It is really bad...daughter and
granddaughter
ZAMA'S FATHER APPEARED IN
COURT. THE MAGISTRATE ASKED TO SEE THE BABY. BUT LIVING IN EXTREME POVERTY HAD
TAKEN ITS TOLL… THE BABY HAD DIED SOON AFTER BIRTH. BECAUSE THE EVIDENCE WAS
GONE, THE FATHER'S FAMILY THOUGHT THIS MEANT THE CASE WAS OVER.
WHILE WE WERE FILMING, ZAMA'S
GRANDFATHER'S BROTHER STORMED IN, DEMANDING TO KNOW IF THE RAPE CHARGES WOULD
NOW BE DROPPED...
UPS MKHULU: I would like...problem for the kids
IN MANY CASES, LIKE ZAMA's,
FAMILIES PREFER TO SETTLE DISPUTES
AMONG THEMSELVES...A TEACHER WHO SPENT MANY YEARS TEACHING IN DRIEFONTEIN
EXPLAINS HOW THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF DISPENSING JUSTICE WORKS.
MASWAZI... the traditional way...women must persevere
ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS A
WOMAN MAY HAVE TO DEAL WITH DURING THE COURSE OF HER MARRIAGE, IS THE RAPE OF
HER CHILD. IT’S EVEN HARDER WHEN HER HUSBAND IS THE PERPERTRATOR.
MASWAZI... believe the child
SIBONGILE... frustration
ZAMA HASN'T BEEN BACK TO
SCHOOL SINCE FALLING PREGNANT TWO YEARS AGO.
HER FATHER'S FAMILY INSISTS
SHE'S LYING ABOUT THE INCEST, SO THE MAGISTRATE IN THE CASE HAS ORDERED THE
BABY'S BODY TO BE DUG UP. DNA TESTS WILL ESTABLISH WHO THE FATHER IS.
ONLY THEN WILL ZAMA HAVE THE
CHANCE TO TESTIFY IN COURT. UNTIL THEN SHE'S DECIDED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL… TO
TRY AND PUT THE NIGHTMARE BEHIND HER...
UPS ZAMA: When I'm walking...I'm not afraid
UPS THOKZ: Grandmother protected me...now children are vulnerable
THOKOZANI'S GRANDMOTHER HAS PASSED
AWAY, BUT HE STILL VISITS DRIEFONTEIN TO SEE HIS OWN CHILD, THABISILE. ALTHOUGH
SHE'S NOT THE ONLY REASON HE'S TAKEN UP THE FIGHT AGAINST CHILD RAPE, HE KNOWS
SHE'LL ALSO BE AT RISK HERE.
UPS THOKZ: I expected these things in Townships...mother is working in
hospital then she's safe…
TAKE THE CASE OF SR NOMSA FOR
INSTANCE...SHE'S A PROFESSIONAL NURSE. HER 9-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER BUSI HAD BEEN
RAPED, AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT TILL MONTHS LATER. THEN ONE DAY WHILE BUSI
WAS IN THE BATH, SR NOMSA NOTICED SORES ON BUSI'S BODY. THE CLINIC CONFIRMED
THAT BUSI HAD A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE.
UPS SR NOMSA: SO I SAT DOWN...
ON THE DAY OF THE ASSAULT
BUSI AND HER COUSIN SIFISO HAD BEEN SENT TO A RELATIVE'S HOUSE. A NEIGHBOUR
CALLED THEM CLOSER...
UPS BUSI: He sent Sifiso...or he will stab us
UPS NOMSA: I FELT SO BAD...TO THE POLICE STATION...
THE POLICE NEVER INVESTIGATED
BUSI'S CASE. SR NOMSA WAS TOLD SHE'D REPORTED IT TOO LATE. BUT DESEMBER
MADONSELA, THE ACCUSED, WAS ARRESTED FOR ANOTHER RAPE…
UPS SR NOMSA: CAUGHT RED HANDED
UPS: MDU...
UPS THOKZ: NO LONGER A VIRGIN...
PART 2
THE ROAD TO DRIEFONTEIN WAS
SUPPOSED TO BE TARRED MANY YEARS AGO. BUT TODATE, NOTHINGS BEEN DONE. ONCE
LARGE AND PROSPEROUS FIELDS HAVE BEEN SUBDIVIDED AND BARELY YIELD ENOUGH FOR
THE FAMILIES WHO LIVE THERE. THIS YEAR THERE’S BEEN LITTLE RAIN. PROSPECTS ARE
NOT GREAT...ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE VILLAGE.
MORE AND MORE YOUNG GIRLS ARE
FALLING PREY TO THE VILLAGE RAPISTS...PEOPLE THEY ONCE TRUSTED.
THOKZ: Children in
Driefontein...that says something about the safety of children…
9-YEAR OLD THOKO ALSO STAYED
BEHIND WHEN HER MOTHER WENT TO WORK IN JOHANNESBURG. ONE DAY, A MAN SHE KNEW
FROM CHURCH CALLED HER AS SHE WAS WALKING PAST...HE WAS A CARETAKER THERE. SHE
THOUGHT NOTHING OF GOING TO HIM.
BEFORE SHE WOULD TELL US WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CHURCH, THOKOZANI AND OUR CAMERAMAN
HAD TO LEAVE THE ROOM...
THOKO
ABEL: We got a warning when we were in Johannesburg that Thoko had been
hurt. I immediately got in the car with her mother and came here. When we got
here, they said at the clinic that they had checked Thoko and the child had
been raped. We had to go to the police station, because we already had the name
of the rapist. At the police station we told them what had happened
and they said they would fetch the rapist at his workplace.
CARLOS FUMO IS THE MAN WHO
WAS ARRESTED. HE WORKS HERE, AT DRIEFONTEIN'S ONLY LARGE GROCERY STORE...HIS
BOSS IS A PROMINENT BUSINESSMAN AND A LOCAL ANC COUNCILLOR. HE’S THE ONE WHO
PAID BAIL FOR CARLOS.
YUNUS: CERTAIN HE WAS INNOCENT...
BUT THOKO SAYS THAT THAT WASN’T THE ONLY TIME CARLOS RAPED
HER...AT THE CHURCH WHERE HE WAS
STAYING. THOKO WAS TOO SCARED TO TELL ANYONE, BUT HER MOTHER HEARD THE STORY
WHEN SHE CAME BACK TO DRIEFONTEIN...
ESELINA: He came back...throw her in the dam.
BECAUSE THOKO FEARED FOR HER
LIFE, HER MOTHER TOOK HER TO JOHANNESBURG.
CARLOS HAS ALREADY BEEN TO
COURT 13 TIMES. AND NOW THE CASE HAS
BEEN PROVISIONALLY WITHDRAWN… AFTER A NEW SOCIAL WORKER ON THE JOB FAILED TO
DELIVER A PROGRESS REPORT ON TIME.
THOKZ: Did they say...and he said I'm a free man.
NOW THAT THE SOCIAL WORKER’S REPORT HAS BEEN
SUBMITTED, THE TRIAL WILL GO AHEAD. THOKO WILL STILL HAVE HER DAY IN COURT.
MDU...PROVISIONAL
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN TO THIS MAN?
THOKO'S FAMILY IS EAGER TO
SEE THE END OF THE TRIAL. THEY SAY EVEN IF THE ACCUSED WALKS FREE, THOKO NEEDS
TO TESTIFY… AND TO FIND PEACE. BUT THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE TURN SLOWLY...WHILE
FAMILY LIFE CONTINUES IN DRIEFONTEIN, THOKO REMAINS ISOLATED IN JOHANNESBURG.
WE ASKED HER HOW SHE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE STORY END...
THOKZ: MOST HORRIBLE CRIMES...DISADVANTAGED...
THOKOZANI IS DETERMINED TO
KEEP THE STRUGGLE ALIVE. HE REFUSES TO ENDORSE THE CULTURE OF SILENCE THAT
SURROUNDS CHILD RAPE AND INCEST...NO MATTER WHAT THE PERSONAL COST.
MY CHILD
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camera & sound
gerhard botes
photographs
paul weinberg
capcam
luke partington
translation
dimakatso raphoto
editor
hannes van vuuren
written & directed
anna-maria lombard
presenter
thokozani mtshali
special thanks
zanele dhladhla
nursing & security staff newstand clinic
all the kids