As a Tembisan stationed between Johannesburg and Tshwane, I’ve always been figuratively split between the two cities.
While Joburg is violently busy and frantic, the capital city and all its embassies is much laid back in comparison.
There’s this pulsating energy and dynamism, often bordering on danger, about Joburg; it always feels, looks and tastes like something is happening or just about to happen eGoli.
I seldom, if ever, felt this way when I’m in the country’s capital city.
Tshwane’s Central Business District (CBD) is like food that looks good but has no flavour- it just doesn’t hit the spot.
The only time my proverbial taste buds get excited about being in Tshwane is when I venture into the city’s surrounding townships.
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Mamelodi
From the deeply-rooted cultural Ga-Rankuwa, to the menacing and exhilarating Soshanguve and Mabopane, or the jazzy Atteridgeville, to the homey yet far-flung Hammanskraal- this is where one gets a proper taste of what Tshwane is.
However, of all the aforementioned Tshwane townships, none of them seems to encapsulate what you find in each of them, as Mamelodi does.
“My father passed away when I was six years old, but my mother made sure we maintain a close relationship with my paternal side of the family. So growing up, my older brother and I spent most of our school holidays in Mamelodi; we absolutely loved it in Mams,” film director Lebo Magolego tells Tha Bravado.
“It was a completely different atmosphere to growing up in Ga-Rankuwa.”
Magolego is the director and co-producer of the documentary Mamelodi: A Timeline of Heroes.
The doccie was screened at the recent Joburg Film Festival and later this month will have its first international screening at the South African Film Festival (SAFF).
SAFF brings the very best of contemporary South African film to Australian and New Zealand audiences.
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Celebrating Mamelodi’s heroes
Magolego says the idea to tell the story of Mamelodi came when musician Given Azah Mphago was working on a theatre production Mmamelodi Spirit of Malombo for The State Theatre, and the musician roped in Magolego as one of the two photographers to take shots and short clips of everyday life in the township.
“I was keen, considering I was already starting out as a documentary photographer. They introduced me to author Aubrey Mogase who had written a number of books on Mamelodi’s rich history, culture and heritage,” she said.
Magolego says conversations she had with Mogase, who is fondly known as Bra Aubrey, left a lasting impression on her.
“He literally had Mamelodi’s story in the palm of his hands, and I remember running the idea past Bra Aubrey, Given Azah Mphago and Flow that we need to film a documentary with Bra Aubrey, he had so much more to offer, but I remember Bra Aubrey being the only one latching onto the idea and gifted me his book Mamelodi – Reflections of a Lifetime.”
After reading the book she was given, the filmmaker had an unavoidable conviction that the story had to be told.
Magolego described this feeling as a “calling that I had to answer.”
On a more sentimental note, telling the story was also an ode to her late father. “I feel that throughout the filmmaking process, his spirit was working through me,” shares the filmmaker.
“Bra Aubrey had already written this wonderful book, and I knew that film as a medium would help him reach more viewers and market his book. People don’t read as much anymore, so I was just the middleman in capturing this phenomenal story in visual form,” she says modestly.
The initial idea was for the documentary to be an adaptation of Bra Aubrey’s book however, the short film draws inspiration from the book.
“…and because of his knowledge, expertise and relationship with some of our interviewees, it only made sense to me to also credit him as a producer,” averred Magolego. Azah is in charge of the music on the documentary.
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The documentary
Mamelodi: A Timeline of Heroes runs for just under 30 minutes, yet short as it is, it is an important archival tool that pays homage to those who hail from Mamelodi and went on to have an impact on the country and the rest of the world.
From the great Philip Tabane, to political martyr Solomon Mahlangu to singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela, the film celebrates its own.
The doccie also pays homage to posthumously world renowned photographer Ernest Cole.
“Having former schoolmate of Ernest Cole – Levi Mothibe on board made the story come to life, we relived those moments with him as he narrated the good times and the bad,” shared Magolego.
One of the cool moments in the doccie is when Mothibe details how the late photographer changed his surname from ‘Kole’ to ‘Cole’ and straightened his hair so he could look coloured. At the time, being coloured meant he could qualify for the “coloured” identity card, which allowed him more freedom of movement to do his work under draconian apartheid laws.
“Having Ernest Cole’s nephew Leslie Matlaisane be a part of this was also God at work, as he shared some never seen before photographic prints of Ernest’s work,” Magolego said.
Tabane’s son, Thabang, passed away in January just before the doccie was screened at the Joburg Film Festival. The film touches on the drummer and his work, yet he is not interviewed in the documentary.
“We would have loved to get a comment from the late Thabang Tabane, but unfortunately our production schedules and his clashed a number of times,” says Magolego.
“We were however lucky to film one of his last performances in Mamelodi (included in the documentary) commemorating Malombo Music hosted by Aubrey Mogase himself on Heritage Day.”
After their festival run, Magolego says there are plans to host a couple of screenings of the doccie in Mamelodi.
“We would love for the locals to watch the film as it is ‘The People’s Story’ and to be inspired by the greats who contributed to what Mamelodi is today and to be influenced to continue to make Mamelodi great again!”
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