Rififi Pictures in Association with Ladies and Gentlemen Films present Mncedisi Shanbangu (Madoda), Sihle Xaba (Nhlanhla), Sibusiso Msimanga (Nkulu), Zinkhitha Nyoka (Zanele), Azwile Chamane-Madiba (Zodwa), Warren Masemola (Zolani), Nomonde Mbusi (Thobeka), Jabulani Mthembu (Jabu), Emmanuel Gweva (Sabato), Lunga Radebe (Phone Guy). Associate Producers, Madoda Ntuli, Tshabalira Lebakeng, Anthony Mafela, David Majoka. Screenplay by Robbie Thorpe et al. Director of Photography, Kabelo Thathe Director, Akin Omotoso © 2016
This is a story about three South Africans making a trip to Johannesburg (Joburg), the capital city of South Africa. Three characters all come to the mecca of their dreams, Johannesburg, with a set mind to achieve a set goal. When they meet on the train to Johannesburg, one character visits his wealthy cousin. Another, Nkulu Radebe, is here to claim his father’s dead body back to the village. And Zanele (Zinkhitha Nyoka) brings Thobeka’s (Nomonde Mbusi) long-forgotten daughter to her in the city.
When the train arrives at the terminal in Johannesburg, Zanale and the little girl, Nkulu Radebe and Nhlanhla Xaba, each holding on to their bags, alight from the train, in search for their destinations. Zanele’s sister, Thobeka is too drunk to answer the phone to come to rescue her sister and daughter from the man-eating streets of Joburg. Nkulu Radebe couldn’t readily find the funeral home his father’s body is. Hence, he sleeps on the sidewalk, and he got stripped by robbers. Nhlanhla Nkulu (Sihla Xaba) gets waylaid by two crooks who claimed they were sent by his uncle Zolani (Warren Masemola).
I am not amazed that the film’s byword tells us that this is a real-life story of people living in Johannesburg. Life stories in general can be dull when used in drama, and that’s not good for general audience. The film director, Akin Omotoso, in an interview, made this remark about Vaya. “You see someone on the street; you might remember Vaya. And you might remember their stories: immigrant stories. And if you remember their stories, maybe you might just offer a smile.” I just did, I smiled. The first money I earned in America was at JFK by a fellow traveler. A woman I helped with her load to the taxi paid me five dollars; I added that amount to the thirty dollars I had left on me.
Akin Omotoso tells a visceral story that could hit home to every first-generation immigrant all over the world. This is our story; we, whoever braved the shores of strange lands, delve into the unknown, searching for greener pastures; we the tired and haggard selves. Nhlanhla Nkulu’s cousin Zolani had invited the young man to Joburg. It bloated the young man’s ego about success in Joburg. His cousin rides a Mercedes Benz; he’s wealthy. When a fellow traveler asked what he would be doing, he says, “I can do anything.” Upon arrival, two criminals got hold of him.
Nkulu Radebe’s mother placed so much trust in the young man as he boarded the Kwazulu Natal train. “We are expecting you to come back with your father’s body for burial in his ancestral home. Most African immigrants swear, they want to be laid by their ancestors when they died. After sleeping in the open, on the sidewalk, he wakes up with no shoes on his feet, and almost everything was stolen from him. He manages to get to the mines, only to find that his father’s body has been transferred to the funeral home. Here, he is informed that his father’s family has claimed the body already. You should see the consternation on his face.
Zanele and Zodwa (Chamane Madeba) got rescued by a Telephone Guy (Lunga Radebe) as Zodwa’s mother couldn’t come to get them overnight. The next day, Thobeka and her boyfriend claim them at the Telephone Guy’s shop and take them home. By the look on her face, Thobeka isn’t welcoming Zanele. This could be because Thobeka feels threatened by the young and pretty Zanele, and at the same time, ashamed of her own life and poor disposition.
The script brings its characters all together in the township of Soweto or thereabout. All in all, it is a shantytown, where life doesn’t have much future. The life and prospect of Nkulu, Zanele, and Nhalanhla would come to cross each other, stand to each other and do each other harm. The future of living in a shantytown isn’t always bright as it has never been. Nhlanhla Nkulu is still in the hands of two criminals in a high rise, downtrodden apartment building, who may eventually kill him.
Nkulu Radebe helps slaughter the cow for Modado, and when he brings the young man home to wash the blood off his hands, Nkulu found out that this is the address of the house his father’s body is. It was his father they were mourning. Modado and Nkulu’s storyline crosses each other.
Nkulu, “That’s my father in there.”
Modado, “What’s your father’s name?”
“Phillip Radebe. That’s him.”
“Listen here, boy. We’re trying to grieve. We are grieving my father. It’s time for you to move on.”
Nkulu, “We are also mourning him. My mother is waiting for his body right now.”
“Out!” Modado pushes the man out the door.
Zolani would come to rescue Nhlanhla from the two kidnappers and takes him home. Zolani had invited Nhlanhla to Johannesburg, not for any job but to kill his criminal opponent, Madoda. Nhalanhla freaks out, even threw up at the thought of killing somebody. But he has avowed in the train that he could do anything, and Zolani gives him a revolver with four cartridges with which he kills Modado and a bystander, Thobeka. After him killing Modado and lying down depressed, Zolani comes to stand over him and throws him folded wad of money, “That’s yours. You earned it.” It’s like saying, your work here is done, and you can go back where you come from.
Zanele had volunteered to bring Thobeka’s daughter to her in Johannesburg, even though she too had other reasons for coming with the kid. She has no intention of going back. She wants to stay and bet on her luck in the city. Thobeka isn’t too pleased with Zanele staying in her household, so she throws her out, calling her “Jezebel.” She’s afraid young Zenele will snatch her boyfriend, Modado.
At this point, the life of all major players in this movie collide with each other. Nkulu Radebe helps Modado kill the cow he is sacrificing for his dead father. Modado allows him to slaughter the cow, but when Modado brings him home to wash his hands, Nkulu sees the mourners sitting by his deceased father’s coffin. Modado couldn’t ward off the young man, so he hires him in the beer joint. Nhalanhla is instructed by Zolani to kill Modado, which he did, including Thobeka.
Thorpe, Tshabalira Lebakeng, Harriet Perlman, David Majoka, Craig Freimond, Mothobi Ronnie and, Nomonde Mbusi all as screenwriters, didn’t exercise sympathy for the characters in this story. They’re telling us that all who leave the countryside to the city of Johannesburg are doomed. See the hopefulnesses on their faces as they hop on the train, and the fears on their faces when they each got off. Zanele delivers Thobeka’s daughter and her to become a dancer even as she’s pregnant. Nhlanhla is ready to do any job his cousin can offer but ends up as a paid assassin. Nkulu is to bring home to his mother his father’s corpse.
I want to believe here, though, that this theme about immigrants is not universal. If it were, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota wouldn’t have become a congresswoman in a strange land like America. The three characters and all others who left their villages to live in Johannesburg shall always perish as indicated here. Not even little Godwa shall survive the older generation.
At the end of this film, there’s a metaphoric symbol that stands out. The end credits rolled when the coffin was loaded in the van, signifying the end of all immigrants to Johannesburg from other parts of the country. All have no hope of survival in the city. Vaya in the Zulu language means ‘to go.’ It means, therefore, characters in this movie are transient in nature. The film demonstrates apartheid residue in the Soweto townships.