In writing about the new SABC2 series Saints, Sinners and Settlers (Mondays, 20:00), I must admit to feeling a little like the ham in the sandwich. One slice of the loaf against which I nestle is, of course, my integrity as a critic (I know that sounds like a contradiction in terms, but little flakes of integrity can actually slough off my otherwise concrete prejudices); the other slice is the fact that the progenitor – and on occasion, writer – of this imaginative new series is the editor of this newspaper, Phillip van Niekerk.
There, I’ve gone and praised him already. Well, I believe he deserves it as the idea which became the series is very original: to hoist from the past certain controversial historical persona and stand them up in a present-day court to answer for themselves.
So, in the first of the series, Shaka’s half-brother and assassin, Dingane, is summoned. He arrives, furious at being interrupted in his eternal rest and has to be persuaded to undergo the examination. The prosecutor pleads history’s charges and would once and for all settle culpability on Dingane for the treacherous murder in 1838 of Piet Retief and his party. Dingane has modern legal representation, the substance of whose counter-argument is that Voortrekkers like Piet Retief were not only land-grabbing under the guise of peaceful settling, but were actually apartheid’s visionaries as well – sinking foundations for their National Party descendants. (Which, I have to admit, is stretching things a little. Judging by their reactions the Voortrekkers were more probably just shit-scared of the numerous cunning savages they’d come up against. The accursed English were nothing on these guys.)
A few witnesses from the past are also brought to court, to include the Reverend Francis Owen, the missionary who composed letters for Dingane; Sir George Cory, 1920s historian from Rhodes University College; and Jan Bantjies, who it is believed penned the controversial agreement ceding land to the Voortrekkers. Ultimately Piet Retief, himself, bowls in from the past to take the stand in his own defence.
The root idea of dramatic realisations of history is, of course, nothing new – else what was Shakespeare doing with all those Richards and Henrys? These renditions, however, exploit the very novel idea of having history’s protagonists face each other off in a contemporary setting. Strangely enough the chronoclasm – to slightly misuse John Wyndham’s word – does not infringe. Once you accept the scope of the dramatic licence, the whole thing becomes an intriguing exercise – in fact works effectively as an alienation device.
Mbongeni Ngema’s interpretation of Dingane was quite wonderful, and registered, if Zulu traditions are anything to go by, the boisterous male chauvinism of the character. Faced with the to him bizarre notion of a female judge, he responds in blank amazement: “You will judge me?”
With the court scenes is an under- commentary. As the case proceeds an unexpected invention runs parallel. Dingane gradually adopts modern dress. He takes a trip to the Blood River monument in a motor vehicle. He privately questions the prosecutor’s love for him as a Zulu leader, an emotion he believes should in black people still be endogenous.
At the end he and Retief put aside not only their dated garmentry but their differences too, to become partners in a latter-day business venture: an upmarket pleasure resort on the Zululand coast.
By this stage Retief has shaved off his (rather badly made) beard and Dingane has become a black Sol Kerzner lookalike. They again sign an agreement. This can be read as an optimistic parable on the original treaty – let’s hope it works better this time around – or as a satirical gesture rather cynical of “transformation”.
To have historian Jay Naidoo involved as an adviser was not surprising, given his own fascinating study of the Retief/Dingane treaty, in his splendid book Tracking Down Historical Myths.
The production was economic, gratefully absent were any visual trickeries. The snippets from the flickering early movie, De Voortrekkers, was an inspired touch, lending a truly antic feel. Next week Verwoerd, and later in the series Nongqawuse, Kitchener and Van Riebeeck, come under this spirited new spotlight.
The last time I wrote about Phillip van Niekerk on television it was to describe him admiringly as looking like a benign undertaker. Now that he’s taken to performing mortuary rituals, as it were in reverse – actually bringing the dead back to life -he has exhumed himself a real winner.