Forgotten Afrikaners

Our executive producer, Lyndon Plant, has been in Joburg recently for the shoot. He writes to me from there and his email is below. Please comment on your thoughts regarding the names used to characterize the Benade family. We are interested in your feedback:

Dear Lisa,

I had my laptop stolen in London and did not have backups of my photographs so I am afraid I cannot help any further with photographs. [I had asked him for another one of his beautiful photos to submit to the Beautiful Africa Blog Carnival.]

On a different point, I would like to sound you out about our description of the Benades as white trash. Whilst I accept that white trash is an understood genre (especially in the States), I don't think that it describes the movie's characters well.

In particular, Treppie's intelligence and obsession with science and philosophy, Treppie's disdain for incest, Treppie's and Lambert's 'affinity' to Cleo, Lambert's friendship with Sonnie et al indicate that a different description by us would be appropriate.

I have discussed this matter with some of the actors who consider the use of the genre to be somewhat offensive, unfair and even misleading. I asked them about Afrikaner phrases that they would consider appropriate to describe the Benades or the people I have met in the community that we are filming. They came up with English words like "forgotten," "lost," "close-knit," "protective," "damaged," "deprived," "Afrikaaner underdogs," et al.

I personally like the sound and meaning of "Forgotten Afrikaners" but I would be interested to find out how our internet community who have read the book (and perhaps the author of the book) would describe the Benade family and their community collectively.

Alex has been ill and I returned to Joburg yesterday afternoon from a week's break in Harare. In brief, the weather held out for us [for the filming], although the temperature drop in the evening had Vanessa asking whether she could do the outside burial scene early Thursday evening instead of late Wednesday evening, as she was shivering from the cold.

I returned to the set with stories of a Jan Hofmeyr resident who chased and attacked a crew member and was subsequently picked up by the police in connection with other crime(s), an expensive light blowing, a generator breaking down, the volksie catching fire due to an auto electrical fault and a neighbor who is irate after being woken at 5am by the catering team setting up for breakfast and by the number of crew and cast vehicles parked on an adjacent residential road.

Its time for a cup of strong coffee!

Lyndon

In my research about Triomf, Sophiatown, apartheid and the 1994 first Democratic vote, I get a sense that the human beings referred to as "the poor whites problem," have been first set up and then abandoned by their government. I am not an expert, and invite your comments.

Triomf; The Tower of Babel Re-Titled (Avec Subtitles)

Producer Lyndon Plante brings forward an intriguing point:

"Triomf the movie is now being made with South African, Zimbabwean, French, British, Mozambiquan and American input (that I am aware of)."

It makes us wonder: How many languages do all of us speak? An obvious list would include Afrikaans, English (in its South African, Zimbabwean, American and perhaps even British variants), French, Portuguese, Spanish... and then we up in Jo'burg-sur-la-Seine would love to know if Triomf has anybody aboard fluent in Zulu or Xhosa or Swazi or... well or any of SA's eleven official languages. And what is it like to live in a land not merely official languages, but eleven of 'em.

(As Americans, we consider it our patriotic duty to discourage any speaking of Spanish whatsoever, worldwide, lest our mother tongue be corrupted and we find ourselves, say, at a rodeo out on the chaparral twirling our lariats high atop our cayuses and discover our burritos have been adulterated with too much guacamole and salsa, forcing us to vamoose across la frontera to, peut-être, Quebec.)

In any case, we welcome the day when the Tower of Babel, much like Sophiatown, is officially renamed "Triomf." (And then back again. With an official ceremony. In eleven languages. And then a big braii afterwards. And maybe some dancing.)

Telling The Story of Sophiatown

(Blog Author's Note: Originally published in the Mail & Guardian, this article is one of a number included on this highly informative page that explore the overlapping history of Sophiatown and Triomf.)

Telling the Story of Sophiatown
by Reesha Chibba | Johannesburg, South Africa
Globe & Mail
11 February 2006 09:51

The reclaiming and renaming of Sophiatown, which has had two names for far too long, is a past we dare not forget, said Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo on Saturday.

Masondo was speaking at a ceremony to rename Triomf back to Sophiatown, west of Johannesburg.

“Sophiatown is a place with an amazing history and depth. Sophiatown was, in its heyday, the epicentre of politics, jazz and blues in South Africa. It’s renaming is an attempt and effort to tell [its] story,” he said.

Masondo spoke of the suburb being “bulldozed to dust” during the forced removals in 1955, leaving 65 000 residents without homes. They were forcefully removed over the following eight years and dumped in matchbox houses in far away places like Meadowlands, Lenasia, Western Coloured Township (now Westbury) and Noordgesig.

“Sophiatown evokes memories of a vibrant, creative, multicultural community. A place where artists, writers and musicians flourished, against the odds, in an atmosphere of racial tolerance,” he said.

Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, a Johannesburg council member, paid tribute to former African National Congress president, Dr Alfred Xuma, in her speech.

Xuma, who lived in Toby street, was one of the last residents to leave Sophiatown in 1959. Today, his house is one of only two houses that managed to escape the destruction of Sophiatown by the apartheid government.

A heritage plaque honouring Xuma and his wife was unveiled at their former home during the street parade. People dressed up in true 50’s style and jazzed up the streets with their singing and dancing during the street parade after the official ceremony. Everyone rejoiced when the Sophiatown suburb sign was officially unveiled.

Thabo Matsho, an Ekurhuleni councilor who was born in Sophiatown, said there were moments during the street parade when he felt very emotional.

“I felt like knocking on the door [of the house my parents once lived in] and saying, 'My parents lived here. It’s my parents place. I want it back!' But you can’t do that.”

Freda Tangee, a former District Six resident from Cape Town, said she will never forget the time of the forced removals.

“I will never ever get over that. It was terrible and it’s frustrating.”

Tangee said she feels frustrated because she never had the opportunity to carve a better life for herself.

“At 17 I couldn’t even get a job. It was because of the colour of my skin,” she smiles.

She said she felt hesitant to chat to a policemen at the event because she doesn’t trust them anymore. “I don’t know. Should I be friends with the police? They are not part of me anymore. They have become extinct. I forgive, but I never forget,” she said.

Small children with painted faces, colourful striped tops, hats and umbrella’s cluttered the back of Ben Linde’s 1970’s cream bakkie.

“Sophiatown is the best suburb. It’s the best place that I’ve lived in."

(Used by kind permission of Johannesburg News Agency; www.joburg.org.za)