World

with the question he posed at the end of hisintroduction:As the country struggles to overcome the legacy of itsbrutal past, what has freedom delivered for Cynthia andfor millions like her?Early in this documentary, a distinction was drawnbetween the lives of the majority of black South Africansand the minority white population. While walkingthrough the squalid township looking for Cynthia,Keane passed an obviously inebriated young black man:This is a world where at least half of the people are joblessand alcohol is an escape route from the grinding poverty.This is the world where apartheid cast millions of blacksand from where the ANC promised to rescue them.In contrast to this, later in the programme he visitsCynthia’s daughter Doris who was working as a domesticin a white suburb. While the area in which she wasworking was not one of the most salubrious of the whiteareas, Keane compared the relative comfort with theconditions which the Mthebes have to endure:In South Africa wealth is still overwhelmingly in whitehands. This isn’t ostentatious white wealth, but it’s aworld away from the camps.Keane found Cynthia Mthebe still living as a squatter,in a shack in an unnamed street, without electricity. Thefirst section of the documentary focused particularly onthe Mthebe family. While initial shots of the family’sshack automatically conveyed an image of poverty, it wasalso freshly painted and well kept. Against this, Cynthiaexplained the difficulties of trying to cook with paraffinand using candles for light. The accompanying commentfrom Keane indicated that where some progress had beenmade with the provision of basic utilities, others had notimproved:The arrival of a tap though represents a big advance evenif it is shared. Providing clean water was one of the ANC’skey promises and has undoubtedly saved thousands oflives. But the lavatory is a hole in the ground – a healthhazard in overcrowded condition.Through the experiences of her family, theprogramme aimed to reveal ‘the reality of life in blackSouth Africa today.’ Five years after the end of apartheid,Keane entered a world where the fight for survivalappeared to have become even more desperate. Cynthiaworks at a rubbish dump, which Keane visited. Heexplained that Cynthia had begun working there whenher husband walked out on her and their children sevenyears before. There, Cynthia had a ‘community of friends’who ‘each collect different things but help each other.’He also met Anna Requibe, a black female dump worker,who explained the necessity of working there to survive:It would have been very difficult for me if the dumpwasn’t here. Unemployment is very high, white peopledon’t want to hire anyone. Since I’ve been here, at leastI’ve been able to put bread on the table.Fergal Keane said that Cynthia’s working dayextended well beyond that of most people:For Cynthia Mthebe survival is a daily test of herendurance. After a long day on the rubbish dump she stillhasn’t finished work. For in the dusk she becomes a farmer.On waste ground near her shack Cynthia has planted avegetable patch. She takes care to be home by dark.There was one scene in particular which highlightedthe considerable weight of Cynthia’s family responsibilities.She had the extended family round for a meal. Thisincluded her two very young grandchildren, who livewith her, her daughters who were visiting, and her threesons. The eldest son had an alcohol problem, the nexthad dropped out of school with no prospects and theyoungest had learning difficulties:Once a month Cynthia has a special family meal. It’s herway of trying to bind the family together.The second half of this documentary focused furtheron the erosion of the social fabric of the townships. Thisincluded evidence of rapidly and dramatically increasingrates of crime, domestic violence, youth suicide and therape of children. This section began with a comment onthe changing role of South Africa’s police force:In the old days they were the violent enforcers of whiterule, but today they must serve the new democracy, andthey have a new political crisis on their hands. It’s a crimewave threatening the promise of a better life on which theANC came to power.Keane found further evidence of desperate conditionswhen he visited a residential home for abandonedchildren. He interviewed the Director of Tembisa ChildWelfare, Wilhelmina Bodibe, who commented onincreasing rates of child abandonment, which sheattributed to unemployment, poverty and homelessness.Keane commented on the alarming increase of sexualviolence against children:Theirs is a world of poverty and violence, where the rateof child rape has risen 375% in just 7 years.The presenter joined Sergeant Freddie Malatsi ofTembisa’s police force as he carried out his night’s work.They visited a home where a young man had justattempted to hang himself:DFID – July 2000 75