LION OF THE EAST

(Pic: One of the moving scenes from “Lion of the East”)

Mbongeni Ngema’s musical of hope and triumph deals with Gert Sibande and the Potato Boycott.

The Playhouse Company, in partnership with Committed Artists, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation and SABC 1, presents Lion of the East which will run in The Playhouse Company’s Drama Theatre from December 15 over the festive season.

The musical of hope and triumph is created, written and directed by Africa’s King of Theatre, Mbongeni Ngema, known for seminal works such as Asinamali, Sarafina and The Zulu. It has already successfully performed in Mpumalanga where it was commissioned to mark the 50th Anniversary of the region’s Potato Strike in 1959 that was spearheaded by the legendary political and labour activist, Gert Sibande, one of the eminent political activists in Bethal.

The musical deals with the life of Gert Sibande who was also a leader among farm workers in what was then known as the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga). He was an ANC activist and one of the first of a string of accused in the treason trial of 1956 to 1961. At that time, he was a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC.

“His pronounced commitment for the plight of poor people in the rural areas is well-documented,” says the production’s director, Mbongeni Ngema. “He stood against exploitation on a Bethal farm where wanton killings occurred. Farm hands were flogged to death, gruesome stories of others dying of the cold and of people conned into working on the farm were the order of the day. One can imagine how hard it was for the people. They worked from sunrise to sunset, and they were fed porridge and gravy on sacks instead of plates to make them eat faster because the gravy soaked quickly through the sacks.”

South African poet Roy Campbell, describing the conditions on the farm, wrote of “the fiercely ironic abuse of an illiterate ruling class.”

Gert Sibande emerged in the Bethal district in the 1930s as an organiser and founder of a farm workers’ association. He became the local spokesman for the ANC. In 1947, he helped journalists - including Michael Scott, who worked for the Rand Daily Mail - to expose the slavery conditions of African people on the Bethal farm. The farm exposé was later pursued in Drum magazine in 1952 by Henry Nxumalo and Ruth First. Sibande launched what he called his “talking to papers” strategy to expose the slavery conditions on the farm. Although he never had any formal education he became an important man in the trade union sector and the ANC as its spokesperson. Sibande left Bethal and lived in the Vaal area before he was banished to Komartiport. He skipped the country and went to Swaziland where he died in 1987.

This is a milestone production which includes the potpourri of music, dance and drama that have become the hallmark of Ngema.

Lion of the East runs from December 17 to January 3. Special low price previews will take place on December 15 and 16 (group bookings call 031 369 9407). Tickets R145 pp for normal price performances booked at Computicket or on 083 915 8000 or call 031 369 9540 (office hours).