Matthew Krouse Down the tube
You’ve probably caught the new SABC2 commercial – but if you haven’t, try not to mistake it for a Sun International campaign. It’s not about any reality in particular, rather it’s a pretty tidbit about four different types of over- dressed Africans, representing the four elements. After short, but dramatic journeys they meet in the desert where they use their ornate staffs to unlock some earthly secret at a Stonehenge-like formation.
A 60-seconder, it began its life on January 22 in the languages of English, Sotho, Afrikaans and Venda. It will run for one year and will be supported by extensive outdoor campaigns – so one can safely assume that the same over-the-top outfits are soon to be seen on billboards and on buses.
Above the proverbial, but corny sound of the cowhide drum, however, SABC2 is showcasing some interesting and less predictable subject matter.
Uhambo, the much discussed traditional dance extravaganza aired on February 9 on SABC2, filling a time slot no shorter than two hours! Rumour had it that, after the stage show upon which the programme was based, General Manager Thaninga Shope was so overwhelmed that she extended the documentary and dance drama to double its intended running time.
It was with a sense of dread that I entered the proceedings, lucky enough to get a preview tape so that I wouldn’t have to wait until 9.30pm to get my lesson on the African Renaissance. Let me reiterate – a deep sense of dread – and so, obviously, I was pleasantly surprised by some of Uhambo’s content.
“In a true democracy the dead must also have a vote,” began Fitzroy Ngcukana’s two hour fireside narration. “They can never tell us what they wanted, until we discover who they were,” he continued.
On the brink of the country’s election race, these opening lines were obviously intended to sound deeply subversive.
Images of Africa’s past followed, in abundance, captured by the colonialist’s lense. Tribal farmers, their families and their fortunes – making a timeless archive of lost faces who, in all probability, had little understanding of the medium that would make their images immortal.
A couple of decades after white South Africans visited the mining compounds to witness amphitheatres of tribal dancers, those same proponents have staked claim to their heritages, allowing them to be incorporated into a medium as powerful as television. And, even though the two hours of footstomping and sermonising went on and on, something about the programme was culturally uplifting.
Some may call it culturally nave – for a lot of the content emphasised a pre-colonial African paradise. Indeed, even the zebras were lauded for being very good at polygamy.
In the press package, and in other press articles, the SABC have claimed that Uhambo employed over 320 previously out-of-work people. They used the traditional skill of over 100 dancers, and sourced pictures from the country’s major historical archives.
These collaborative efforts seem to go a long way toward justifying the work that, however flawed, became a true celebration of the relics of people’s heritages.
And, even though I left the room to make coffee and tidy up during some of the longer, more monotonous dances – the sound of the poetry and the ululations made me feel quite comforted.