"I haven’t eaten for two days," said 24-year-old Phillip Chikumbo, his dark eyes bloodshot with fatigue. There was no hint of outrage or bitterness in his comment; he was simply hungry. "They do not have food for us here because we are unexpected visitors." Chikumbo is one of about 20 young men — all Zimbabwean — patiently awaiting deportation to a place he no longer wants to call home.
Through the medium of video, Thando Mama’s piece <i>We are afraid</i> is a biting critique of contemporary news broadcasters and is currently on view in Johannesburg’s MuseuMAfrica. Sean O’Toole speaks to the young artist and winner of the MTN New Contemporaries Award.
At South Africa’s far northern border post on the Limpopo River, it is not uncommon to see frustrated state officials clashing with immigrants fleeing Zimbabwe’s food shortages and escalating unemployment rate, reported to be above 60%.
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/ 15 November 2002
A European comic artist takes a colourful look at an African tragedy, writes Sean O’Toole.