Motshabi Tyelele

SHWELE BAWO! A GRAVE INJUSTICE!

Life in South Africa today is a confused and confusing melting pot of the old and the new. Old traditions fighting for survival against modern ways, identity crises among men and women, disintegration of family structures, child and women abuse, are but a few of the issues we confront everyday

SHWELE BAWO! A GRAVE INJUSTICE! attempts to tackle some of them. Issues of relationships, incest, power of the media and inequalities of the justice system come under the spotlight. For too long these problems have been swept under the carpet creating a social time bomb of secrets and lies that threaten to destroy our society.

Dikeledi Nkabinde is the protagonist in the play, a woman who ‘takes’ the law into her own hands and plans to kill her abusive husband. For many years she has been the faithful wife of Solly Nkabinde, turning a blind eye to his infidelities and physical abuse.

Traditional instructions from her elders to obey her husband (e.g. Monna ke selepe wa kadimisangwa! A man is an axe to be lent and borrowed!) keep her from leaving her situation.

Realising that her daughter, Bontle, has also been a victim of abuse at the hands of Solly, she explodes. The thought of doing nothing while her child is being hurt awakens echoes of other proverbs- which reflect the role of a mother. (e.g. Mma ngwana o tshwara thipa ka bohaleng! The mother of the child holds the sharp end of the knife!).

Not protecting her children even against their own father, would mean failing them. Failing God.

At the beginning of the play, she has already spent a few years in jail. She’s done some soul-searching and self-forgiveness. So, do we keep judging her? Or are we going to look at ourselves, and see what we’ve become?